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Hari Om. Hari Om. Praṇām to Swāmījī. He is currently in Kathu, where Mahāprabhujī lived. I greet you all here in this Bhakti Sāgar where we are, and all brothers and sisters, devotees, and friends around the world. I am very happy that Swāmījī gave me the task and the challenge to speak today about the spiritual path. It is a very good subject because all of us sitting and listening here are on the spiritual path. So, what is this spirituality? I love most the definition Swāmījī gives: spirituality means crystal clear purity. If a crystal, which was not clear, undergoes great pressure and high temperature within the earth, and then much work is done on it, it becomes completely clean. That is the aim of the spiritual path: to become like a crystal, clear, so that you can see inside your real nature, which is only Light. When you look at a crystal, you see that light enters it, and thousands of colors appear. It is beautiful. It is pure purity. That is why, in the beginning, I was singing some mantras, for instance: Oṁ Pūrṇimādaḥ. Pūrṇimādaḥ means that God is complete, and as we are a part of this completeness, we are complete as well. It is like taking a drop of water from the ocean; the water is the same as the water in the ocean. If you take one piece out of the completeness, the completeness always remains complete. So, the aim of our path is to reach this crystal clear purity, where the light of knowledge, of Jñāna, can shine, where God can give us the knowledge and wisdom of our true nature, which is Sacchidānanda—the consciousness of truth and eternal happiness. For all of us, we now come to a very practical thing. I want to go with you on a mountain, a very high mountain, because the spiritual path is also about going to a high, high level, like ascending a mountain. On the top of a mountain, if you have ever been on a very high one, you feel it is wonderful because you are in the absolute Ākāśa, like the divine consciousness. There is nothing anymore around you, and you are standing above everything. There is also this light shining outside of you, and it is the path toward completeness. That is the path of spirituality. As I told you already, I think nearly every one of you has gone on a mountain, haven't you? No one has lived only in the desert, no? Even in the desert, we have a little mountain here in Jadan, Kelash. The same principles apply for how to go on a mountain, especially a high one. First of all, if we go on a path, what is needed? What do we need first? We start from point A. Let's say we start from here, Jadan. What do we have to know first? Yes, we have to know where we are going. Isn't that so? It is an important thing. If we go out on the street now and do not know where we are going, what will happen? You go nowhere, you will meet nobody, and you will end in nothing, actually. You are lost. You go out, you go right, left, this way, that way—nothing. So, the first thing is you have to have a determination. In the morning, when you go in your car, or by foot, or by plane, or on a horse, or on a camel—it does not matter how you go—you should know where you are going. This is important. And you yourself should decide what your aim is. If I come again to the mountains: let's say we go on a 3,000-meter mountain. This we can more or less manage. Would you start and run up? Like this? No. Why not? Because you will break down somewhere in the middle. You are not prepared. So, we have to know, first of all, our aim, our determination. But then it is very necessary that we know how we go. In the mountains, it is like this: you should never go too quickly, never. And you should not change your tempo. Let's say one of you presses ahead in front. You will be very soon tired and have to stop. But the other one, who is going step by step, step by step, in a very regular walking pace, where his whole body, his blood pressure, his heart, everything can adapt—he will endure and go to the first level. So, it is not advisable to run and fall over stones, etc., out of your tiredness. There is a small story. There were two men in a dark night, and they could not find the way. One was a very intelligent and high university professor, and the other was a simple farmer. They were walking in the night without a torch or anything. By luck, a weather change came, and a flash—a lightning—came. By the lightning, you can see everything. The professor was looking up, but in the moment he looked at this lightning, he was blinded and could not see anything. But the other one, the very simple man, was just looking at the floor. Then he saw which road, which way he had to go. So, it is also important that you should be very careful where you are going, how you are going, and with whom you are going. Do not make yourself blind by thinking, "I want in one year to have a siddhi," or "I go to a guru who shows me a miracle. I have a guru who doesn't show miracles. What is this? This is not a guru." This is like that éclair—it goes quickly, and you are just blind, and that's all. You do not follow your way. So, the guru, the master, he can guide you. Especially Yoga in Daily Life, the whole system that Swāmījī created, is this little step. Go step by step. Do not wait for the lightnings, please. The light will come alone—in one day, in one month, in one life, in ten lives, in a hundred lives—but it will come. The main thing is that you, one time, decided to go to this aim. When you go on the spiritual path, one step towards God, He will come a thousand steps towards you. This is just a reality, and I think every one of us has experienced this. We also have in our bhajans, which are from Holy Gurujī and Mahāprabhujī, one bhajan which is really a mountain bhajan. It exactly describes, my Prabhujī, this spiritual path, how to go. But I will just be in the practical. The moment—so, means don't fall... falling? Do not fall in the trap of the lightning. That is important. Look, what kind of people are these who are going beside you? And which kind of steps do you have to take? If you have a high aim, a high aspiration, then take always small steps, small steps. In yoga, we have one very wonderful practice called Yoga Nidrā. In Yoga Nidrā, which is a deep relaxation technique, you can make a Saṅkalpa—a vow or a resolution. The beginning is the end, and because the work is on the very subconscious level, it works very much on your subconscious. That means the saṁskāra you are taking is much stronger than if you take it on a normal level. There is also a very beautiful bhajan of Mahāprabhujī, "Yogī Janong," in which he describes that even in your nether, you can have self-realization. It is a very beautiful bhajan. What I speak to you is from experience; it is not out of books. I am also a person who takes high aims. I was—maybe I mean, still I am—but I am careful with the steps now. Anyhow, one time, some years ago, I took a Saṅkalpa like self-realization, something like this. You will not believe how many things happened, but not good things. I do not know—in work, this happened. The car broke down, everything. It was a disaster, really. The next month, I said, "What is going on? Is it astrology or what is this?" Then I realized, "Oh my goodness, I made such a Saṅkalpa." If you make such a Saṅkalpa, God is listening to you. You must know He sees everything, listens to everything, and knows everything. He says, "Okay, my dear, if you want, no problem, but you have to go through all your karmas now." So, one came after the other. When I realized this, I immediately changed the Saṅkalpa. I said, "No, no, just a little bit less angry," or "just relaxation." These are such small things, but God is listening. Believe me, He is everything, and He is fulfilling your wishes. This can sometimes not be so easy. So, anyhow, we were now starting from our base point, going to Mount Kailāś, a higher one. It is another one, 3,000 meters. We said we have to know where to go, right? And we decided we will look at the path. Okay. So, what do we need? What can happen if we go up? You will not go barefoot. So, good equipment is necessary. There can be a glacier, maybe at 3,000 already. There can be traps, a waterfall; many things can be so. Good equipment is necessary, and you get good equipment from a good shop—a sports shop. In this case, it is not a sports shop; it is a spiritual shop. Yoga in Daily Life: four thousand centers around. They will give you the right equipment, good shoes. Then, what is more needed? You know you have to go through forests and stones and this and that, and there is no road. When you come up very high, there is no path anymore. You have to find your path. So, what is good to take with you in this case? A guide. A guide. And this is the most important, actually, I think so. That is what Swāmījī always says, and I like very much how he said this. He says, "See, everywhere you need a master. Know that the shoe master, there is a clothes master," and so on. When you are driving, you need guidance everywhere. So, in spirituality also, you need guidance. Otherwise, you can reach, but maybe you go in the wrong direction, or you go back, or you go five times around. You do not know in which way you are going up. There is again a little story. There was one blind man in a room. We have here a round room where we are sitting, but in this room, there was only one door. He wanted to go out. He wanted to measure how big this room is. Because he was blind, he could not see where the door was, of course. So, what did he do? With his hands, he was going along the wall. But in the moment when he came to the door, something on his head was itching. So, he put his hands down from the wall, but at the same time he was walking. So, he missed the door. Then he was walking again like this, like this, and he came again to the door. In this moment, his underarm was itching again, just before the door came. So, he had to again—he put his hands from the wall and was scratching himself. So again, he missed. Again, he went to the wall, and when he passed, then the third time his back was itching. So again, he put his hands down and again he passed. This was going on, and he did not find the door. That is a little symbolic for how, for many, many lives, we were going in this thoracic chakra, in this circle of birth and death. Because something—this itching means some attachment, some passion, something which holds us back in the world—it did not let us go out; we did not find the door. In the moment we were very near, something was disturbing us, and we put our hands away. The master can open the door for you. He can take your hand and lead you out of this room and guide you towards the light, so that your blindness—which, in this sense, means that you have forgotten, we have forgotten our true nature—this blindness is removed. The aim is to know our real nature, which is called Ātmā Jñāna. It is needed that someone opens this door so that we can go out of the blindness and see who we are in reality. So now, why did I come to the door? Equipment, guidance. One point was: where we go, how we go, which equipment we have, and, most important, the guide. The guide should have what? Experience. It is quite good to have experience because there could be a waterfall or some ice, and he must catch you with a rope. He also has to have all equipment with him to save you if some things are happening. So now we are going on this path upwards, and many things can happen. What can happen? Falling, sickness, fear, avalanche. You can fall inside a trap, and you can have what in front of you? Suddenly, there is no road at all. There are obstacles in front of the road, for instance, an avalanche or a stone fall. So, what will you do now? Yes, that is a very good answer: pray to God. I tell you, the obstacles are interesting. When I am off sometimes, going in the Himalayas, you must know that Himalayan roads are not normal roads. There are stones and water, and the main thing is they are curved into the stone, into the rocks. One side is a rock where sometimes rocks can fall on the road, and on the other side, that is a thing—just a hundred meters down, and down is just a river. If you fall down, then it's... how you... yes. Sometimes, especially in the rainy season, the rocks, or earth, come down and block the complete road. Your car cannot go anymore. This happens especially in August and July, in the rainy season. It is very interesting: they have some bugger—you know, bugger—yes, some JCB. They come, I do not know from where. They are coming, actually. I am always completely astonished, but the Indian people are very clever. They come and then they put the whole thing, and they put it on this side, on that side. You wait one hour, two hours, or something, and then they remove the obstacles. I was studying this. If you see the normal things in life, you can learn a lot from it. I said, "What is needed to remove obstacles, actually? What is needed?" You know what is the main thing to remove the rocks and the earth? What was the main thing? This, definitely. But he needs some action, you know. He is just on another level. God needs our hands. JCB? No, my goodness, the caterpillar. I say caterpillar; yes, it is correct, caterpillar. Everybody understands around the world, hopefully. So, what you need—the main thing is: what is the right tool to remove the obstacle? Otherwise, you can sit here for three years and pray to Gaṇeśa. I mean, very good, because he was sending the caterpillars. That is good. But the caterpillar—so you need the right tools. It is interesting. Without the right tools, you sit there for maybe several lives before your obstacles: "I hate my mother, I hate my husband, I hate myself." That is an obstacle. So, the caterpillar has to come. Caterpillar means yourself. You have, or you, some movement inside of you, and you remove the whole thing. But it is a strong energy that is needed. Okay, so first of all, the right tools. And these people who are sitting in the caterpillar, they go dangerously, really, on the border of winds, a hundred meters down—very dangerous. So, what do they have to do? Because now we are in the caterpillar and removing the obstacles, okay? You follow me? Okay. So, what is needed more? Right, concentration. And with the concentration we need is awareness. You have to be completely aware. That is also one task, one quality which we should have in daily life: be aware. If you are aware, you are living in the present moment. Your thoughts, your mind is not going backwards; it is not going forwards; it is only in the present moment. That means removing obstacles. You have to know first of all what the obstacle is, because for what is a caterpillar? You can go in the other direction and not toward the obstacle. Again, you have to know which kind of obstacles you want to remove with the caterpillar. Then you need the caterpillar itself, which requires a lot of energy. Then you need the awareness that in this moment you want to remove this or that. This is a kind of decision you have to take daily. It is very good to take a daily decision, a daily saṅkalpa—not too big. These are the small steps towards the summit. Yes, small steps and a saṅkalpa every day. Small. Which kind of obstacle do I want to remove? See, we just had the Diwali time. In this time, Swāmījī said we should forgive: try to forgive the past, forgive your enemies. This is, for instance, a step. I try today to forgive whoever crosses my way. It doesn’t matter what he does; I try to forgive. So we have to be very aware of what we want to remove. We need concentration and some benzene, something inside the caterpillar also—probably fuel we need inside. Without this, you cannot remove obstacles. That’s it. So now we know how to deal with the obstacles, and we go further. Now it is a very difficult pass because you have to balance on the stones, and maybe there is some ice. On this way, the guide will give you something because it will be very stiff. He gives you a rope, or he gives you even a stick. That means he is now the guide. He is now carrying you with this rope and protecting you with it so that you don’t fall down. What could this rope be? The rope which the guru gives us to reach the top. This is maybe different for every master. Our master, Swāmījī, his main rope which he gives us so that we reach is the mantra. This mantra is given through hundreds of years from our guru paramparā, coming actually from the high mountains of the Himalayas where Alakpurījī was living. The mantra is the guidance, the security, and the protection we need to go up the high mountain. Maybe now it is time to tell you about this bhajan which Mahāprabhujī wrote, and you know it all. It is Maṇḍavā dhīre. In this, Mahāprabhujī tells us, "Oh my mind, go slowly, slowly, because steep is the path to the divine home, the homeland, the divine homeland from where we come and where we go back again. Seventy thousand rivers you must cross; these are the nāḍīs." And deep ravines you have to overcome. You have to overcome thousands of miles. Over the heaven is a house of God. God’s house is above everything, every human, everything. This means that we have to develop our Kuṇḍalinī Śakti and go through all chakras till we reach the Sahasrāra Chakra—this is symbolic—which stands above everything and where liberation finds place. Small and slippery is the way. And dark is the night. Dark is the night means, again, we don’t see the way. We don’t see the way, and we don’t know because of so much darkness. Yoga says we are often in ignorance. That means we don’t know our real divine nature, and we are disturbed, focusing on all worldly things. One beautiful definition of Brahmacharya is to always think on God. So if we always think on God in this way or that way, or by saying mantra, chanting mantra, or singing bhajans, that is how the light will illuminate the darkness, and you can see your path. If the way is slippery and you are sleeping, then you fall down, like I told you: Himalaya, then it’s Hari Om. That means if you do not succeed in this life to reach the top—the perfection, the completeness—then again you have to be reborn. Mahāprabhujī tells us that 25 temptations are there. They make you, like a cobra, and then she’s dancing. The illusion comes to you in the form of 25 very special indriyas, temptations in all directions. They have such beautiful melodies, then you are dancing after them, and your way is also Hari Om. So we have to be careful of all these temptations which are on the way. On our way going, there is now the tea shop, and there is this, and there is chapati shop, and on another side are lady dancers, and this and that, the nightclub, and Kushaṅg is waiting. If you go there, then you forget why you came here actually and where you wanted to go. My brother tells you, when you want to listen to them, then you are entangled, and you forget to go further. That’s why again and again our masters, all of them in bhajans and also Swāmījī, tell us about the satsaṅg. If we regularly go to satsaṅg, this will always put us back on the way. It is not only once a week satsaṅg in the yoga center; it is more important, even very important, which kind of satsaṅg we are making with ourselves. How we are speaking with ourselves, how we are judging ourselves, do we love ourselves, how we are meditating, how we are thinking about us. You can have first love to yourself, then you can give the love to others and to God as well. So satsaṅg is not only once a week. If possible, we should always have satsaṅg and be careful about our thinking about us, our speaking about us, and thinking about others, speaking about others. This is self-control, really. This is one very, very… This is a stick which you need to go up, always to check yourself—how I am—but in a loving way, not in a shouting way. Children, when you are shouting with them, they will never listen. But if you give them a little bonbon, then they listen to you. Also, give yourself some sweetness and do something which you like. Too hard is also not good. Medium is always the best. And satsaṅg, of course. If we are speaking also with others, this is an important thing, especially in times like we have here around the world, in our yoga groups. Be careful what you are talking, with whom you are talking, what you are reading, and better don’t read, don’t speak. Make Mauna and chant Om inside of you if you are falling into Kushaṅg. I think this is an important thing, and sometimes we are not aware enough about these things. So, as much satsaṅg as possible—singing, reading, speaking—it’s wonderful. We have really the big blessing to hear Swāmījī personally and over this media, which is really around the world. You can have his divine darśan, his divine words. Don’t judge; listen to his words, which are divine, which come through a very, very pure heart, directly to you. Now, Mā Brahmā says, "If you try to climb to the summit of the mountain without knowing the right technique, you will fall to the earth again." So you have to know the right technique, which you learned already, before you go on the top there. He says, without Satguru, you cannot go on the way, so you need guidance. You have to go, but he is the one who has the knowledge and who can guide you. This is so that you will not lose this big chance to have a human body, this life. That is his aim: to guide you to perfection, to liberation. Mahāprabhujī says, finally, Śrī Devapurījī gave me this knowledge about the right guidance. He says, through the grace of a Satguru, you can reach this aim. So, maybe we sing this bhajan? Viśvagurū Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁsasvayam Īśvarānandjīgurudeva kī jaya. Maṇḍavā dhīre dhīre cala, gagana garā caraṇare bhāī, dhīre dhīre cala, gagana garā caraṇare bhāī. Caraṇare bhāī, gagana garā caraṇare bhāī, caraṇare bhāī, gagana garā caraṇare bhāī. Manavadhira—this is the main thing in the whole bhajan, please. Manavadhira means go, and dhira is slow. What does it mean? Manvā dhīre. Okay? Chīka. Manvā dhīre dhīre chāla, gāna gara charanāre bāī. Manvā dhīre dhīre chāla, gāna gara charanāre bāī. Azarabatthara Nadīyā Chhalā, lambī lambī kāhī... Sahasra kośa gagana ke upar Vāparaherā gurahī maṇḍavā, Dhīre dhīre cala gaṅgāra caraṇare bhāī, Manavā dhīre dhīre cala, Gaganagāra caraṇare bāī, caraṇare bāī, Gaganagāra caraṇare bāī... O mandava dhīre dhīre chāl, gāgān gār charaṇāre bāi. Gallia ciotirat anderi raste me cikanai. Agar cherapte pave tumhara, paroge undhikai. Mandva dīre dīre, chal gagan gar charanare bhai. Pācchā pācchī sau bhelī hokār, mohānni rāgā sunāi... Rāgā sunāi ātterā mannamohe, rastau deyā bulāhi Mandava. Dhīra dhīra chāla, Gagangara charanāre bāi. O Mandava, dhīra dhīra chāla, Gagangara charanāre bāi, charanāre bāi, Gagangara charanāre bāi. Sharanare Bhai, Gagandhar Sharanare Bhai, O. Mandava, Dheera Dheera Chal Gagandhar Sharanare Bhai, O Mandava, Dheera Dheera Chal Gagandhar Sharanare Bhai, vinnā janāyā koi ucchā charasī pārā dharā na parāyī, satta-gurubinnā mālunāi pātā mārgo jīnā bāhi, Manva dhīre dhīre chāla Gagangara charanāre bāi... Charanāre bāī, Gaganagara charanāre bāī. Charanare bhayī, Gaganagara charanare bhayī. O mandava dhīre dhīre cāl, Gaganagara charanare bhayī... Śrī Deva Purīṣa Sve Sāya Gurumera Dhīvi Sena Lakāyī... Svāmīdhī Pasaṇyāsī bole, guru kṛpāse pāī, manvā dīre dīre cala, gagana gāra caraṇare bāī... Śaraṇāre Bhai, Gaganagar Śaraṇāre Bhai... O Mandava, Dheera Dheera, Shal Gaganagar Sharanare Bhai, Manda va dhīre dhīre chālaka gāna gāra chārā nā re bāyī... I hope you were all singing on the mountain, on our path to the mountain by singing. I was also singing. What did I forget to tell? I know what I forgot, so I tell you now. Another important, very important thing is… Let’s say, how can I tell you? You should tell me, what is important when we go high, when it’s very tough? What is important? This is on the body, something on the body level—definitely strength, right? This is very right. But now, from your equipment, yes, you’re right, equipment. So what would you carry with you? I thought, yeah, definitely, the snakes are there, okay. But which equipment? What would you take care of? Yes, definitely, it is very important, right? And the food is the… Satsaṅg, actually. You know, we are in the spiritual, yeah, the spiritual. I mean, you know, the equipment, we transport it, we transform it on the spiritual level, okay? So, please, of what would you take care? You have a stick where you put the food, where a bag? So you carry what, a bag? Yes, a rucksack. It’s international language, this, okay. So, and what? You would take care, so I’m in the rucksack. Please think over the rucksack. It is important, yes. She said, "Is there? It should not be held." It’s definitely because otherwise the food will go down. That is an important thing. No, very good. You should always check your equipment. Check your equipment means… check your mind when you go up. It is a good, very good. If you have corrupt stuff which is not good—shoes with holes, and the rucksack with holes, and your trousers are not holding the water… But I want something from you. So what would you put in the rucksack, please? Yeah, that’s very good, very good. Yes, in the night, warm clothes, yes, yes, water, okay. So this is a mountain. Earrings only, this speaking. But what would you not do? No, I… we, we are… I see equipment, our equipment. What we take now, we will transport, transpose on the spiritual level. So whatever you say, we will transport it on the spiritual level. So the torch is actually your knowledge. You’re on it because you’re also able to go on the path when you have a certain knowledge, wisdom, self-conscience, strengths, etc. The food is spiritual food, like mantra, bhajan, satsaṅg with yourself or with others. Nourishment—we already have the nourishment. I am now at the physical level, please, so what would you not? I make it easier: what would you not? All the equipment is very good, what you said, but on what you… would take care, oh yeah, yeah, very good. Mangal manager key, very right, because her name is Mangal. Money means happiness, and this for everyone is very right—not too heavy. So, I don’t think that you will take three big rocks like this, five kg, in your… kilos in your rucksack? Oh, will you? No, because why? I mean, he’s very strong, but he’s not stupid. So you should also be intelligent when you go and you make your equipment. But we all of us… we carry stones in the rucksack, you know this. And what is this? This, you? Yeah, okay. What else? Yeah, more. Yes: anger, greediness, bad habits. One important, very, very big, big… rock, you know, it’s like this. What is this? Yes, yes. Everything very good. He says to do with the time. We carry all with us our past. This is our biggest. "Oh, my mother, she was so, and I suffered so much. This friend, this one, my children, and this, and the teacher, and the guru, and everyone," except me, of course. But all others, I was suffering this, that. This is the biggest, biggest, biggest burden you have. It’s bigger than the food and everything that you tell. So, see, I mean, everyone, it’s not like this: I tell you this now, and then tomorrow you take the stone and throw it. I mean, I’m happy if you do, but awareness is the main thing. What I like the most, the best definition of yoga, is the consciousness which never sleeps, you know, and it means awareness. So, becoming aware, for instance, it’s sometimes just a little. You make like this, you become aware that our past, our experiences, are mostly the heaviest burden, which we don’t have enough strength then to go further. So maybe if I can give you, at the end here, a little suggestion. You know, you are the one who is going; nobody else is going. You have your shoes, equipment, and you have your rucksack, and everybody of us has another rucksack. We can have all the same torch, the same food, but the stones which we are carrying with us are very individual. And so I wish you that every one of us, we take the rucksack this night or whatever morning, and we look. Which kind of stones you have inside, and then try to throw them. For this, it is also good symbolically to make something like in a meditation. You have not now to go on the next; you can go to the next river and take really, you know, sometimes, some little pūjās or ceremonies are really good. But first you have to know what you want to give up, what you want to throw away. Because otherwise, it’s like you go to an island and you don’t know where the bay is. You always have to know what you are doing and what you want to give away. So, for instance, you can go to a river, but meditate first or think over what burden you really want to put there, and then give it over to Mother Earth. Mother Earth is taking everything, and she’s also—whatever you give to her—she’s able to transform into another energy; she’s a divine mother. So you can, in any form, give to the divine mother earth, or you can make a fire in reality, but don’t burn yourself, please. So you give inside some wood. You can make it in reality, or also… in a meditation. We have a very beautiful meditation in our chakra book. I think it’s by Maṇipūra chakra, and there you imagine a fire mentally. You imagine this, and then you put some wood beside you, and one is past this one, or this is anger, this. It is complex, and like this, or your past, whatever, what is an obstacle, which is a burden in your rucksack. And then you put this mentally in the fire and look at the fire until it burns down to ashes—ashes white, so nothing remains. I thank you very much for listening and for joining us here on our trip on the spiritual path. I hope that you get a little inspiration. Mother Nature is teaching everything, and you learn a lot out of everything. So whatever you do, whatever we do, there are many spiritual lessons inside. So even going to the mountains or to the lakes somewhere, always God speaks to us. So I thank you very much, and I wish you all the best on your spiritual path. Śrīdīt Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān, Akījā, Viśva Guru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar Paramahaṁsa, Svāmī Maiśvarānandjī Gurudeva, Akījā.