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Part 1: The Ties That Bind: From Ignorance to Liberation Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ, sarve santu nirāmayāḥ, sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu, mā kaścid duḥkha bhāgbhavet, oṁ śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ, śāntir bhavatu, Hari Om. Dīpa Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī jai, Deveśvara Mahādeva kī jai, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān kī jai, Satya Sanātana Dharma kī jai. Salutations to the Cosmic Light, Lord of our hearts, Omniscient and Omnipresent. In His Divine Presence, very good evening, dear brothers and sisters. Spiritual seekers, practitioners of yoga and the divine life, aspirants, devotees, here in this hall and around the world, very good evening. This blessing is coming to you from Om Śrī Viśvadīp Gurukul, Holy Bhārat, Jāḍaṇ, Rājasthān. Just now, you heard about Rakṣabandhan from His Holiness Śrī Svāmī Manoharānandajī Sarasvatī Jī Mahārāj. What does Rakṣabandhan mean? When did this event take place, and why? Where and how? From the time of the incarnation of Bali Rājā, which you have seen in the Mahāśiv Purāṇa, you know all this. There are many other events: the protection of sisters, culture, traditions, society, and the world—to maintain cleanliness, harmony, peace, and mutual understanding within social relations. As you heard yesterday, the most dangerous and most powerful tie is that of ignorance. The Jīvātmā is tied in its own phenomenon, in its body, what we call pañcakośa: annamaya, prāṇamaya, manomaya, vijñānamaya, and ānandamaya. These are the five layers that create the individual phenomenon and the so‑called Jīvātmā. Jīvātmā is a mixture of ātmā and anātmā. On the day when we free ourselves from those bondages, bandhan, you will no longer be called jīvātmā, but simply ātmā. Each and every touch, each and every smell, each and every vision, each and every breath, each and every movement, each and every action—physical, mental, intellectual, emotional, social—and each and every thought, word, and feeling either liberates us from those ties or creates a stronger thread around this phenomenon. Each and every entity has its own phenomenon. The Jīvātmā enters this mortal world through four different doors, we may say: through vegetation, through bacteria and water creatures, and through birds—egg‑born, moisture‑born, womb‑born, and seed‑born. These are the four. Everywhere, everyone has to pass through the cycle of 8.4 million species. Swamiji was telling how many millions there are in each category, but even I have forgotten the exact numbers. Lakhs, which divide into three categories: Jalchara, Thalchara, and Nabhachara. After all this, there is a way to become free: surrender. Finally, he quoted the last śloka of the Bhagavad Gītā from the 18th chapter, that after everything is over, Arjuna, give up everything and just surrender to me. That’s all. Seek shelter in me. Knowledge is where there is no ignorance, and where there is ignorance, there is no knowledge. Parā vidyā and aparā vidyā—the latter gives bread and butter. Take your bread and butter, drive the car, and leave everything in action. But how long? This bread and butter is only for the body, for nourishment. Yet it will create that kind of energy which you will eat. That will create such mental vibrations, mental waves, the vṛttis in your chidākāśa, in the space of your consciousness, that you will not be able to master them. It is like being in a hurricane, with high waves; you can no longer control your sailing. Finally, at that last time, we have to pray only for that. There is one song: “Mājī O Mājī, kitnā dūra kinārā, moī dūra nagariyā jānā, kāle kāle badala chāī rahā, bijalī chamakate baḍā dariyā, śānta kinārā kā hai, mājī dūra kinārā jānā.” Emotional waves, darkness of ignorance, the lightning of your desires and thoughts, and cloudiness of ignorance. Endless ocean of the 8.4 million lives. Finally, O Lord, where is the mainland? Where is the peace? And so, each and every entity—it doesn’t matter in which form it arises—the aim is to come to the origin. And that origin is our Supreme, the Brahman. Parāvidyā is that knowledge which is above, beyond, which you cannot touch, smell, hold, see, and so on. And that is knowledge of the ātmā, ātmā Śrī Paramātmā. I am not this body, but also you cannot say, “I am not this body, you can cut my body in pieces.” No. At present, we identify ourselves with the body. Though we are not this, we are in this. It is my house. I am not this house, but it is my house. I will fight till the last minute to protect my house. And that is, you see, we are fighting till the last minutes of our lives now through modern technologies, medicine, and so on. No one wants to die. Maybe birth is easier, or maybe not, but everyone is afraid of death. Perhaps we are not afraid of death itself, but of how it will take place—how, where, when—that we will not be able to move even a single finger, the pain. So we are afraid of the pain, not of death. How will it be? How long will we suffer? Or just seconds, a heart attack or a brain attack? Hari Om Tat Sat, bākī sab gap‑sap. Lucky are they who will not suffer, but we will be sad about it. Oh God, suddenly he just got in the car to drive, turned the key, and remained with his hand on the key, while some suffer on the road. This pain has been experienced by the Jīvātmā in many, many lives. Finally, we got the human life. The difference is this: humans have a mighty intellect, buddhi. According to the capacity of other creatures, they also have buddhi, or feelings. You know, they declare the most intelligent creature in this world is the bacteria. Yes? The flu. When you have the flu, you go to the airport, and that flu will arrive before you in Singapore. Because one person got it from you, and that person’s flight was two hours before your flight. True? They know how to find, they are very intelligent, and they know how to survive. Okay, you give antibiotics, you give this and that, but they say, we are living. You know the story of Dracula, the vampires? Before he or she dies, already someone is there who has the blood of that which is flowing in the veins. So all the negative qualities around this globe are dormant in human consciousness. And also, of course, divine qualities are dormant in the human—through the practice of Kriyā Yoga, the practice of what they call Kuṇḍalinī Yoga: cakras—Mūlādhāra, Svādhiṣṭhāna, Maṇipūra, Anāhata, Viśuddhi, Ājñā, Bindu, Sahasrāra. But these are only the major centers; there are thousands of centers. Each and every blood cell has its own phenomenon. Yathā brahmāṇḍe tathā bindu. What is in the entire universe, God has filled in the human body. What is not in you is not there. The system is the same. You will say, “Swāmījī, it is good that you are speaking; we like that you talk, but the universe is endless, and its body is so small.” Yes, it will take time to understand. I give you one example. Before around 15 years, not long ago, one and a half decades, a telephone called a cellular phone was introduced, what you call the mobile. Now they call it handy because it is very handy. And that telephone, which was introduced, weighed four kilos, and you could carry it in your handbag or on your shoulder—a four‑kilo big telephone. And someone was saying, “Oh, technique will come, and it will be such a little telephone,” and I said, “Stupid, it cannot.” And they said, “You will make a computer one stick like this, only three centimeters, and we can record in it a whole library.” I said, “Okay, you can make me stupid, but I am not so stupid that the whole library, where there are thousands of pages, hundreds and thousands of books, Purījī, Siddha Purījī, Siddha... Purījī, who are we to discriminate against other creatures? No, do you have no rights?” You cannot give life, so you have no right to take life. And that is why there is a major point of sin. So there is abuse and sin, these two. And sin is there because where the pain is connected, the pain is related to that one, that body, that thing. And therefore, first to develop in the heart is called mercy. Tulsīdās is writing, “dayā dharma kā mūla hai,” the root, the source, the fundament of religion is mercy. Dayā dharma kā mūla hai. The cause, the root, the source of dharma. And dharma is only that one dharma called the universal dharma, sanātana dharma. It is not man‑made; it is a universal principle. Between the moon and the sun, the balancing—that dharma is Sanātana Dharma. Bringing nice rain and going, and this entire season is balanced, and everything, the growth of the body or vegetation is by that. That is called Sanātana Dharma. And that is what is said: without God’s energy, without that power, even a blade of grass or a leaf of a tree cannot move. And you know, the moon is the biggest balancing force for the sun and for our planet. One of the scientists brought this scientific work and said, “There is Earth, and there is Sun, and the Moon is between, which is balancing.” Let’s say this is Earth and this is the Sun. If I pull this out more, then it will go down. So between the moon, between the Earth and the Moon, and the Sun, this is the balancing point. That doesn’t let it fall, and that is moving around like this, in this way. Similarly, between emotion and intellect, there is a balancing power that is called viveka. That intellect needs that kind of education, saṃskāra. Through the saṃskāras, the education, the events, all kinds of social and spiritual events where you learn positive things, through that you create that culture. Culture is the life of humans. Where there are humans, there is culture, and where there is culture, there are humans. And every human brings their culture with them. When I went to Europe, I brought a touch of Indian culture there. Now you are here, it doesn’t matter how hard you try to live according to Indian culture, but still from you is reflecting the European culture. It’s okay, European culture is not bad, it’s very good. But many of you don’t follow even European culture, because nowadays all cultures are hybridized and manipulated. And among all the cultures of the world, from all the cultures of the world, the best culture is, as one said, agriculture. Isn’t it? Yogājī, so out of all cultures, there is one culture; the best is called agriculture. Then the human became aware, “Oh, I spoiled everything.” All cultures, I spoiled it. But how did this fellow say to me that one culture, which is the best of all cultures, is agriculture? Now I will destroy this. And now you see, all around the world, the human begins to destroy agriculture. Hybrid, pesticides, all these chemicals have destroyed agriculture too. The day when your nourishment will be manipulated, the entire system of the body, feelings, and mind will be manipulated. Jaisā khāye anna, vaisā rahe mana, jaisā kare saṅga, vaisā lage raṅga, aura jaisā pīye pānī, vaisī bole vānī. What kind of nourishment you take, accordingly your body will give the signal to your mind. The mental activities, the emotional activities, the ego—where is this standing beside this?—depend on the strength of the body. The desires, in the Pañcakośa, the Ānandamaya Kośa is not the level of bliss, but the body of desires. That ānanda which will not last long, that you can also say the current sārī, the cause of everything. The causes are lying there in the actions far in the past. And so the past karmas are from the past life, dormant in the micro system in the Mūlādhāra Cakra, that is what we call the Kuṇḍalinī Śakti. If negative energy awakens, you will become crazy. If you practice wrong, if you practice without devotion, if you practice without understanding, if your ego, ambition, greed, and so on are guiding you, following you, accompanying you, then those Mūlādhāra energies will go through. And it will touch your Ājñā chakra, and it will make you completely stupid. You know, there is one dog, a doggy, very big. He is very nice, I love that dog. But that dog one day will get such a brain disease that he will attack the owner or the master. Similarly, because that dog had love, had master bhakti, svāmī bhakti, that devotion to the master. Part 2: The Fire of Devotion and Transformation The one who is loyal to the dog, the one who is loyal to the horse, the one who is loyal to the cow, the one who is loyal to the bird — what do you call such loyalty? Svāmībhakti. A horse is very, very loyal to its master. Elephants and dogs are also. Yet the same elephant can go mad and kill its master. In Austria, some six or seven years ago, there was a beautiful zoo, and an elephant gave birth to a calf, a beautiful baby elephant. The man working there loved that elephant and her baby deeply, and the baby loved him. The calf was only a few months old, perhaps a year. One day, the man who loved them so much — the master, if you will — came and found the baby’s head, with its trunk, pressed against the wall; the man died right there on that spot. Is it true? Is there any Austrian here who knows? — Shanti, where was it? Śrī, not Śrībrahma, Yajña Śrībrahma, not Śrībrahma Śrībrahma, in the Śrībrahma Vardas. Anyway, is this a practitioner’s concern? It does not matter. Whether it is Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jñāna Yoga, Kriyā Yoga, Nāḍī Yoga, Ṣaṭ Yoga — any kind of yoga you practise, any kind, even your studies at school — if you have confidence in your teacher, in your master, and you learn with love, you will be first in the school, first in the class, and you will come through successfully. If you harbour doubt in your master, you will lose interest. Your master provides motivation, but when you lose interest, that loss of the ability to learn will cause your brain to revert to those ancient, lower qualities. You will go mad. Therefore, Holy Gurujī said, Sandhyā, Sandhyā Vandana. Just as you clean your teeth every day — one is a tooth, two are teeth. So do you use an everyday toothbrush or a teeth brush? This is a question I always ask: why do they mix this? One tooth, two teeth. So, have you always brought me toothpaste? I say I need a teeth paste because I am not brushing only one tooth. But anyhow, okay. Every day we need to clean. Every day you need to clean your kitchen, your bathroom, your toilet, your floor. That means cleaning, cleanliness. Similarly, every day we have to clean our antaḥkaraṇa — manas, buddhi, citta, and ahaṅkāra — through the practice of mantra, prayers, sandhyā, vandanā, and by making your saṅkalpas. Patañjali said very clearly about the yoga experience: Atha yogānuśāsanam. Yoga begins with discipline. Human life begins with discipline. And that discipline makes the best disciple; that disciple follows the master. So, among those who follow the master and the discipline, there are three types. One is a disciple who radiates wisdom — that is called a flower, like a flower. The second is one who follows the instructions of the master — a follower. And the third, whoever we see who changes opinion and path — that is also called a follower, but a different sort: a “fallower,” one who falls away. Flower, follower, and fallower. So I wish that you are that follower who becomes a flower, not a fallower. When you begin to fall over, in your consciousness, the craziness of the past and this life, all these mental vṛttis become confused. Because you did not practise citta-vṛtti-nirodha, you were not capable of controlling and purifying your negative energy from the depths of your mūlādhāra cakra. It takes a long time to come out, but it is said, Yoga Agni, Karma Dagdhani — through the practice of yoga, the fire of yoga, yoga agni, burns karmas. There are many kinds of agnis: Jāṭharāgni, Kāma Agni, Krodha Agni, Jñāna Agni — so many fires. But this agni is influenced by saṅgha, by association. Development and distraction begin from one point, one seed — that is called saṅgha. If you write “ku” in front of saṅgha, it becomes kuśaṅga. And if you write “sat,” it becomes satsaṅga. Sat sudhāre sat saṅga pāhī. Even a stupid, ignorant person can become a great wise soul through satsaṅga. And even a great one can become a fool through kuśaṅga. There is Havanāgni. In the havanakuṇḍa, in Karmakāṇḍa, Swāmījī was speaking of mantras and ślokas. The majority of the Vedas are Karmakāṇḍa. Into Havanāgni we offer āhutis. Into Jāṭharāgni we offer āhutis. That same agni is in our kitchen, the chulhā, where everyone says Agni is the form of Viṣṇu. And where there is Viṣṇu, there is Lakṣmī. So if there is fire, the fire is called Lakṣmī. As long as there is fire, there is Viṣṇu, and the ash is Lakṣmī. Do not throw things here and there. Every household keeps it on one side and later puts it somewhere, on trees or elsewhere. Then there is the Jyoti, the Dīpak Darśan, the Darśan Agni. We take a resolution. And then there is Chitāgni. The last ceremony culminates with the burning of the body in the crematorium. Everyone who sees Chitāgni makes praṇām. No one humiliates the Chitāgni. If someone’s body is burning, everyone joins their hands and remembers Bhagavān. No one spits on it, no one hits it. Respect, isn’t it? Very highly respected. Because that is the final destination; you are there, you will be there, you have to go there — or you have to go into the earth. Mātī kahe kumār ko, tū kyā raundī mohe? Ek din aisā āegā, maiṁ rundūgī toyā, saṅgā. When this fire was with the dead body, it became chitāgni. When that fire came into the temple, it became a dīpak, a jyoti. When it came into the havanakuṇḍa, it became havanāgni. And the same fire came to a smoker who put fire to a bīḍī, smoked it, and then threw it down and crushed it beneath his feet. Us agnī kā bhī dekho kyā hāl ho gayā bhāī, jisko pairon ke nīche kuchal diyā kyōṅki saṅg, usne tambākū kā saṅg kiyā thā. The essence of satsaṅga is that there are different kinds of fruits, and therefore in satsaṅga we receive that kind of Brahmajñāna, true knowledge. When we go through our spiritual sādhanā, through satsaṅga, the best qualities that are dormant from past lives are awakened. As Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said to Arjuna, Arjuna practised yoga. After many explanations, Arjuna asked, “Lord, what will happen if I die before self-realization? I practised for perhaps eighty years, and with three years left for realization, I died. What is the use?” God said, “Nothing is lost. Each and every step will be counted. You will be born again in a good home, as a good husband or wife.” Purījī, Purījī… that cosmic Self is more clever than this; we do not know how many trillions of creatures are on this planet and around it. Everyone has their own rakṣaka and carries their own śikṣā, carries their bhāgya, their karma. And you never know where this, your śikṣā, will lead you, or where your karma, your bhāgya, will lead you. Patta ṭūṭā ḍāl se legay pavan, uḍāī. Ab vichāre, kab mileṅge, dūr paṛeṅge, jāy. The leaf fell from the branch of the tree, and the wind of destiny took it away to the other side of the hill. The leaf is saying, “Who knows when I will come again to this, my branch? Beautiful, forget it, my dear. Gone and gone.” Therefore, this viveka that humans have, the intellect that humans have, needs that kind of education. And very carefully, you can awaken all the best qualities. When the negative qualities are awakened in an aspirant, that person becomes one of the most restless, unhappy people. Can’t sleep, jealousy, anger, hate, greed, fear. Lost, lost in darkness. As soon as love and devotion awake, it is like a dawn has risen in front of you. Therefore, say — only Gurujī said — Chantā Mātā Karna Nirbhae Raho, Nishank Kabhī Mātā Dharna Tum Nirbhae Raho. Therefore, it is said, Kali-yuga kevala nāma ādhāra, sumira sumira nara hoy bhava pāra. In all the different yugas, we are now passing through Kali-yuga, and in Kali-yuga it is said that humans will have no discipline, will be very weak, will lose jñāna, dhyāna, vairāgya. Therefore, God made it easy for humans: Bhakti Yoga. Kali Yuga kevala nāma ādhāra, sumira sumira nara hoy bhava pāra. O humans, in Kali Yuga the major thing is the name of God, your mantra: Sumira Sumira Narahoy Bhavapara, Sumiran. And it is said, it doesn’t matter where you are. Oṭ jibyā āle nahī̃, bin japyā jap hoī. Ajāpā jisko kyā japye. So constantly, all the time, this mantra goes with you. And that is why Guru Nānak said, “Teri bitti omar.” O my mind, till today your life has passed away; you’ve lost so many years. Now, at least begin now, śumiran mantra practice. Without this — dayā naina bina, reyāna chandra bina, mandira dīpa bina — a body without eyes, a night without the moon, a temple without a light. Dainu sīra bina khau, without milk, dhartī megha bina, the earth without rain, jaisī taruvara phala bina hīna, like a tree without fruits — what kind of tree is that? Similarly, O human, your life without God is worthless. Pakṣī paṅk binā, hastī dant binā. If an elephant had no teeth, how would it eat with such a huge body and a soft mouth? The birds, if they have no wings, cannot escape, cannot fly. Finally, he said, “Kāma, Krodha, Mada, Lobha, Tyāgo.” Renounce Kāma, Krodha, Mada, Lobha, Moha, Ahaṅkāra. Icchā Chhoḍo, Bhakta Jana. O dear bhaktas, devotees, give up Īrṣyā. Īrṣyā Agni, Īrṣyā Agni bhī hai, Mahārāj, sabse baḍī. This is a bhayānaka one, the most terrible. The most dangerous fire in us is īrṣā, jālas, jālas, the fire. That is why, also in jālan — jālas kā matlab, jālan — is a Sanskrit word. Jālan means burning, īrṣā agni jālan, jealousy. If there is īrṣā, then there is no śānti. And if one is a sant, you need not say, “Give up īrṣā.” So, jealousy is one of the greatest enemies and one of the most dangerous fires that attacks humans and other creatures. So, my dear, I wish you a very good evening. Today we had a very interesting subject. I will come back again tomorrow to you on the subject of fire. Yes, that is a very great subject — that we ourselves put on the fire. There was a mad person in a village who did so many bad things. All the village people were very fed up with that person. One day, someone told him, “You are so mad, but don’t put fire to the village.” He said, “Oh, I have forgotten. I did so many things.” Next day, he took a firebrand and burned the village. Similarly, someone tells you something, your jñānendriyas or karmendriyas or your kuśaṅga friends incite īrṣā, and with that īrṣā, with jealousy, one can destroy the whole world. Tomorrow is the 15th of August. It is the National Day of India. It celebrates the independence of India, and the Constitution began to be written and was accepted on the 26th of January, no? That is right. So, in India, this day is celebrated with great joy, like a festival. The message of the Indian President, the celebrations at the front of the President’s House in New Delhi, in every school, in every government office. So, we also have here schools and colleges, and we will also have tomorrow the celebration of the Independence Day of India. In addition, for Christianity, tomorrow is a very holy day: Maria Himmelfahrt, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when the Holy Mother went to heaven. Someone must come if the Mother went to heaven; what will the earth do? So then my karma brought me down here too. Someone said, “I have a birthday tomorrow also.” I have a birthday every day, I have a birthday every month, so I don’t know which birthday I should celebrate. So, my dear, there is one very beautiful story, but I will not tell it now because I am already five minutes over. I want to tell you that the celebration tomorrow in our school with our school students will be live webcast. If the internet somehow disrupts through the heavy rains and the like, then we will record and replay it again. There will be English explanation lectures, there will be Hindi also, and especially our school children will perform very nice theatre. So don’t miss that. It’s a very good theatre they will perform. So, see you tomorrow. The evening will again be webcast with a different programme. Wish you all the best, wherever you are, my brothers and sisters. If you have morning, then good morning. If you have evening, then good evening. And if you have night, then good night. I wish you all the best, and I will see you. Pray for your good health, pray for your spiritual development, and Mahāprabhujī’s blessing. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ... Sanātana Dharma Kī Jaya.