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Evening Satsang with MM Swami Jasrajpuriji and Swami Gajanandji

A lesson in letting go of logic to follow the Guru's word.

A command was given to solve a problem with school transport. The instruction was to sell the buses and use trucks instead. This directive defied all reason and seemed impossible. The effort began to obey it regardless. While preparing the trucks, a new call came. The previous order was completely reversed, deemed unacceptable. The point was to let go of personal logic and attempt the practice. The situation resolved itself when the effort to obey was made.

Another teaching is to care for all ashrams and centers as one's own. They are not run by separate groups but are a collective responsibility. Every action or restraint that maintains them is a contribution. This extends to fellow practitioners; their progress and struggles are shared. Supporting others uplifts the entire group, as everyone moves forward together. The instruction is to always help pull out the weeds.

"It is just my wish that everyone should care for the ashram like it is their own."

"It’s always good to keep pulling out the weeds."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Śrī Brahmā, Bhagavān, Kīcaka. Sandeśa Bhalo Lageśa, Satguru Sāī Appakur. Hey, Sandeś, Bhalo Lagesa, Satguru Sai Appakur. Ānāṃ ca nāṃ kā pāṃ tu nīhāru dharu dhyāna palla palla ku. Hey Santiśu Bhalo Lagesa Satgur Saiyapakku Amar Lut Si Satyagrahaaya Suddha Hansa Turdha Jagaya. God bless you. I don’t know what to say after Milarepa’s stories. Perhaps I can share an experience I had with Swamījī, a little bit about letting go. It was a few years ago; I don’t actually remember how many. But it involves school. There was one period when the most dangerous thing I could ever do was to talk to Swāmījī about school buses. It was like lighting an explosive. But we really had to discuss it because on one bus there were 150 students. The driver came and said, "It’s really hard to close the door." It was amazing. He didn’t complain; he just stated the problem. I think the number was 153, so I had to ask Swamiji about it. Of course, there was an explosion, and he was quite angry with me. He immediately declared that we should get rid of all the buses and bring the students to school in trucks. I was, of course, also not very happy. But he wouldn’t stop. He said immediately, "Go and sell those buses, and you should bring them tomorrow in the truck. If they don’t come in the truck, then there should be no school close to the school." He had me on my point easy when it came to the school children. If there was something, he could just grind me. This started in the morning and it wasn’t stopping. The whole day he repeated this. At the same time, I was thinking there has to be some law against this. It must be against human rights or something. You can’t bring kids to school in a truck. But somehow, by 4 or 5 o’clock, I’d managed to get to the point where I thought, "Okay, we’ll do it tomorrow." I then called Yogeśjī. We came together to where the trucks were and started trying to work out how on earth we were going to bring the students to school in a truck. It’s not so easy to get them up there; it’s quite high. We were talking about how to fix ladders, and someone was cleaning in the back of the trucks. Then Swamiji called and asked, "Where are you?" I said, "I’m with your guest here, we’re in the car park, trying to work out how to get the trucks ready for the children." Of course, he said, "Are you crazy? That’s against human rights. You can’t bring students to school in a truck. You should get another bus." And that was it. For me, the point was to let go. To listen to that Guru Vakya and then, actually, to at least try to put it into practice. I don’t know what would have happened the next day if we had sent the trucks, but we would have given it a try. I share that story because perhaps it will touch a point that others may have in their experience with Swamiji. Sometimes logic has to be let go of. And then afterwards, it resolves itself again. There’s another small thing that comes to mind when we’re talking about karma yoga. It applies here to Śrīlaṅkā, to every ashram, every yoga center. It applies to Jādan. Earlier this year, Swamiji made a small statement in Hindi during a small satsaṅg in Jadān. There weren’t many people there, but it was directed towards us, the karma yogīs present. He said, "It is just my wish that everyone should care for the ashram like it is their own." I think we should all take that into our hearts. When you’re here in Strylky, when you’re running your yoga center, when you’re giving a class: this is not Strylky Ashram run by the karma yogīs from Strylky. This is our ashram, and everyone should contribute. And Jadan is not run by the people who stay in Jadan. It’s our ashram, and everyone who comes there should contribute to it. Whether it is by doing something, or by not doing something that disturbs, or by just putting the rubbish into the bin or turning the lights off. Observing when something needs to be done, and if not doing it yourself—because maybe it shouldn’t be done the way you think—then asking, "Can I help with that?" or "Can I do something?" These are all ours; it’s all part of the family. Anything that is Swamiji’s is something that we are responsible for. You may also like to think in that same way about your guru brothers and sisters. There is not my practice and Gajananjī’s practice and Sādhvidājī’s practice. It’s our practice. Because when somebody progresses, then all of us progress. If somebody’s energy changes, then the whole energy of the whole satsaṅg, or the whole center, or the whole group changes. When you look at it like that, if somebody has a problem, you can’t not help. If you don’t want to help them, you’ll help because it’s helping you. Because we go together as a group, as a collective. Swamiji often tells that story of the crocodiles from different countries, the ones that are pulling the other crocodiles down and the ones that are helping them up. Certainly, he wants us to help each other up. If somebody is having trouble, support them. Know that sometimes you will also have trouble. Everybody goes through hard times in yoga. That’s the time when they need everybody else around to support them. And naturally, if that happens, then one time they’ll also be supporting you. There was one more small incident in Jadān that happened earlier this year. It was for me a most beautiful moment. Swamiji came down from his apartment. There was nobody else there, and I was waiting downstairs. He called me to meet him there, and somehow he said, sort of sneakily, "Let’s go in the garden." He said, "Let’s sit down here," and we sat together pulling weeds out from the garden—a small weed that comes in the grass. I thought, this is something really special. I’m sitting here with Swamiji and we’re pulling weeds out of the grass. Then he just said, "It’s always good to keep pulling out the weeds." So, another Guruvākya. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Jaya. Śrī Śrī Dev Puruṣa Mahādeva Kī Jaya. Dharam Samrat Paramahaṁt Śrī Svāmī Marāvanand Purūjī Mahārāj Kī Jai. Viśva Guru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar Paramahaṁt Śrī Svāmī Maheśvarānand Purūjī Satguru Dev Kī Jai.

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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