Swamiji TV

Other links



Video details

Time in Ashram is time for change

The ashram environment accelerates spiritual transformation by removing worldly comforts and escapes. Staying for an extended period, such as five years, is a rare tapasya. One faces constant interactions and friction with others, which serves as a mirror for inner work. This friction generates the heat necessary for purification and change. The transformation is often only recognized upon leaving that intense container. The value lies in devoted service and persevering through difficulty.

"Where there is friction and where there is heat, purification also occurs."

"Confront yourself is not easy, and to start by being true to yourself."

Filming location: Jadan, Rajasthan, India

Madhurā phala jhāno, Prabhu mudre kā mele mukamaye, Jala dayā laṅgī gae, Adgam kāj jagat kejete Sogam anubhra tumhāre tete Rām dvāre tumrā kavare O tan ājajinu kahisare Sab sukh lahe tumhārī śaraṇa, tumhārā kṣak kahā bhūko dharṇa. Apanate jas maro ape, nolo kaha kate kape. Bhut pichas ni kata nahi aave, Mahaveera jab naam sunave. Tatate Hanuman chudave, Mane karma vachan dhyan jolave, Sab par Rāma tapasvi rāja, Tin ke kāja sakal tum sājā, O re mano reta jo koi lāve, So yāmi ta jīvan phal pāve, Chāro yuga paritāva tumhārā, Hē parasīda jagat udhiyārā, Sādhusāntake tumhārā khabhārā, Asura nikaṇḍane Rām dhulārā, Asa Siddhina Vanidike Dasa, Asa Bharadina Jahanke Mata, Ram Rasayan Tumare Pasa, Sada Rahura Gupatike Dasa. Kumare bhajan rāma gopāve, janam janam ke dhuka besarave. Antakāla raghu purajai jahā, janam haribhakt kahai. Or devatā dhamma dharai, Hanumata sehi sarva sukha karai. vaira, Jaya Jaya... Hanuman Gosāī, Kerepa Karahu Gurudev Nāī, Jo Satbare Pāṭ Kar Koī, Chhūṭa Hiya Bhande Mahāsuka Hoī, Jhoyā Pade Hanumān Chālīsā Hoyā Siddhīsa Kī Gorīsā Tulasī Dāsa Sadhārī Chairā Kī Jayana Dharedhā Mahandera Pavane Tanaya Saṅkaṭa Haraṇa Maṅgalamūrati Rū. Rām Lakhan Sihitā Sahitā, Rādhā Yabbā Saho Surabhūtā, Sīyāvar Rām Chandra Kī Jai, Pavan Suta Hanumān Kī Jai, Bholē Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagvāne Kīje, Śrī Śrīdev Guruśā Mahādeva Kīje, Ālap Vīrjī Mahādeva Kīje, Hindu Dharm Samrāṭ Sadguru Svāmī Mahādvigṛṣṇa Bhagvāne Kīje. Viśva Guru Mahāmandra Saraparām Haṁsrī Svāmī Maheśvarānandījī Gurudeva Kīje, Gajarānanjī Mahārāj Kīje, Jaśarāj Gurujī Mahārāj Kīje, Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kīje. Śabdasane hī mārī jāt rāmārī khelī, Śabdasane hī mārī jāt rāmārī khelī. Horā na hāve māre dāyī darmārī khelī, Horā na hāve māre dāyī darmārī khelī. Śabdasane hī mārī jāt rāmārī khelī. Śabda sanihi māri jā, tarā mariheli. Śabdo se dehnā Rāma, śabdo se lenā ke. Śabdo se dehnā Rāma, śabdo se lenā ke. Śabdo se kharānī hai bāt, batā mariheli. Śabdose kharānī hai bāt, batāmari heli. Śabdasane hi māri jāt, ramari heli. Śabdasane hī mārī jāt, ramarī helī, dharmarī helī. O rana hai daya dharmari kheli, Shabdas nehi maari jaat ramari kheli. Shabadose chale mare sath, Sath mari kheli shabdasane hi maari jaat raamari kheli, shabdasane hi maari jaat raamari kheli. Ora naa haave maare daya daari maari kheli. Ora naa haave maare daya daari maari kheli. Śabda sa nahi maari jāta Rāma ri kheli. Śabdo se behela Rāma, śabdo se mela khe śabdo se pāva gyāna, gyāna maari kheli. Śabdo se pāv sab jñāna jñāna mari khelī, śabdas nehī̃ mārī jāt rā̃ mari khelī. Śabdas nehī̃ mārī jāt rā̃ mari khelī, aur nāve dayā dharmarī khelī. Śabdas nehī̃ mārī jātra mari khelī. Śabadose yogī rāmā, śabadose jugatī he. Śabadose yogī rāmā, śabadose jugatī he. Śabadose sehaju daru dharmārī khelī. Śabadose sehaju daru dharmārī khelī. Śabdas nahī mārī jā, tarā mārī khelī. O raṇā hāve māre dāye dāre marī khelī. O Rana, have mercy, do not kill me. Do not kill me with your words. Do not kill me with your words.... From words comes the one with qualities, Rama. From words comes the one without qualities. From words comes the one with qualities, Rama. From words comes the one without qualities. Śabdo se dīpā dī dar dī dharma rī khelī. Śabdo se dīpā dī dar dī dharma rī khelī. Śabdas nehī mārī jāt rāmārī khelī. Śabdas nehī mārī jāt rāmārī khelī. Aur nahā redāyā dharmārīkhalī. Śabda sanahī mārī jāt rāmārīkhalī. Śabdo se Brahma Rāma, śabdo se Māyā khe. Śabdo se Brahma Rāma, śabdo se Māyā khe. Śabdo se Śivānanda, par parmā ri kheli. Śabdo se Śivānanda, par parmā ri kheli. Śabdasanehi māri jāt, Ramā ri kheli. Śabdasanehi māri jāt, Ramā ri kheli. O Raṇā hāve māre, dayā dharmā ri kheli. Śabda sanehī mārī jā tharā mārī khelī śrīdīpan rāyam bhagavāne kīse śrī śrī svāmījī maheśvarānanda purujī sattva gurudeva kīse śrī śrī śivānanda mahārāja kī jaya, śrī śrī satguru deva kī jaya śrī dīpa nārāyaṇa bhagavān kī jaya, śrī śrī deva puruṣa mahādeva kī jaya. Dharam Samrāṭ Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Māravānandapurajī Mahārāja Kī Jai, Viśva Guru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Maheśvarānandapurajī Satguru Deva Kī Jai. Tomorrow is a special day. It’s always special, isn’t it? Yesterday was special, and tomorrow is special. Tomorrow is special because for us here in the ashram, it’s a rare occurrence. And that is when somebody who has spent more than five years is going back to Europe. Five years continuously here. Yes, it doesn’t happen often to stay so long. Niranjan Purōjī was just going back to Europe a few months ago. And those who are in Europe could see, I think in Czech especially, the change that comes on somebody when they stay so long continuously in the ashram. It’s not easy. It’s a tapasyā. So it’s rare that it actually happens. And when Yog Māyānandajī goes tomorrow back to Europe, Kathu Mātājī, as we all know her here, then I guess you really discover what it is to spend so much time here when you go back out again, go back to the world again, and see how differently you react or see how much you’ve changed. When you’re inside the ashram and when you’re inside that sādhanā, in that practice, it’s very hard to see the transformation that’s going on. But when you actually get to go and step back out, then you see what happened, see what magic was worked by Mahāprabhujī and by Swāmījī. Not only that, but Matajī was staying in Kathur, and if you look at it for a moment, from Swāmījī’s all of his foreign disciples, no one has spent so long in Kathur as Matajī. She is the expert. And for all of us who have been there and visited and spent some short time there, if you spent some time there during the months of May and June, then you know that that’s not an easy thing to spend five years in Kartu. When the stones are soaking up the heat and letting it back out in the nighttime, and we have good dust storms here, but in Kartu they have deluxe ones where the dust just seems to come and come and leave a layer this thick on the ground. And Mataji, as a very good cleaner, manages every day to not get frustrated by that and still start again and keep going. What to say about those qualities? And as you all know, also from my experience, and I’m sure everyone else has experienced it, is that unending devotion to try and develop spiritually. I’ve never had a conversation with Matajī which was about other things besides what was happening between the other karma yogīs who were there in Kathu, or within herself and what was happening, and how her experience was. In the ashram, unending and constant sādhanā, it’s something fantastic to watch. When you come here and be in a place like Jhara or Kartu or one of the ashrams in India. For us as foreigners who come from outside, it’s a very special type of experience. For me, one of the most special things, especially in the beginning when you come the first few years, is that everything you have to deal with is without your normal comforts, without your normal escapes. When you look at your mind and how it reacts when you get sick, when you’re in your home environment, you immediately have certain things that you hold onto, certain types of food that you eat, certain types of things that you do, or watch, or who you talk to, or where you sat. All of those things helped you to escape from that difficulty which was there. When you have problems with other people, you had places you could go to escape, or you go to the movies, or go to your favorite place in nature, or whatever it was for each person. And when you come here and come into a completely different culture, into a completely different world, all of those escapes are gone. And it means that you get to face things; they’re in front of you. They’re completely in your face. Also, here in the ashram, we’re here with the same people all the time, and you can’t really run away from them. So those issues which we have together, they have to be dealt with. And as Matajī always says, oh, that person is just a mirror for me, showing me what’s going on inside. The reality is that you constantly see how your reactions are projecting on someone else and coming back. You see this when you’re with the same people for a longer time and you don’t have the chance to escape to other places, when the going gets tough, when it gets difficult, when that friction is there. And it’s those things which are, although they’re the hard things about staying in the ashram, they’re also the things that bring the purifying within, the spiritual development within. Because where there is friction and where there is heat, purification also occurs. Not just between us and other people, but also within ourselves. And the friction that’s within us, that pull that this is hard, or "I want to not have to face this again today and tomorrow and the next day and the next day." But as long as we can stay here and hold on and keep going with that, more and more, the benefit accumulates and transformation occurs within. I think for those who’ve been here for a long, long time, we all appreciate, or I say from my personal perspective, you don’t notice that things are happening while they’re happening. You notice a long time later on that certain things have changed, or that your reaction to certain things has changed, or that your emotions in certain situations have changed. It’s a development that you see when you actually step back out again. And so for me, that’s why tomorrow is a special day. It’s that long period of time that Māṭājī spent in doing such a tapasyā, and the fact that we got to be a part of watching it, and that now we get to hear, hopefully by internet and by telephone, what happens when she goes back for a while to Europe. And then, of course, we’re all looking forward to very soon coming back here to be with you again. For those, Swamiji, I remember once saying that when you come and stay in the ashram in India, it’s the equivalent; one year in India is the equivalent of doing six years of sādhanā in the West. So it’s a good investment. Samādhi just did 30 years. On one way, that’s wonderful; on the other way, it’s rapid aging. But you know, I wouldn’t say, for me, that also, from what I saw also in Europe, that doesn’t just apply to coming to India, but I would say the same experience happens to people who go and spend a long time in places like Strelke. Or who really devote themselves in their seva in the ashram. Also, those who devote themselves almost every moment of their day towards the classes and towards helping in the ashram, any moment they are free. With that comes that purification. It’s such a great chance to be able to do sevā, to be able to have a chance to offer something to the ashram, to Swāmījī, to Mahāprabhujī, and to all of our brothers and sisters that are around and who are with us on the journey. So, not wanting to talk too long because Digya Purī has to go to the gym, we have a special presentation for Māṭājī. Māṭājī, please, yes, it’s okay. I think this is an international presentation. It’s from everybody in yoga and daily life around the world, because it’s going to be a little bit colder in Europe than it was in Kathu. So we have one scarf and one topi, and now that Mataji is standing up, surely she has to say two minutes something. I really don’t know what to say. I think five years in parikattu is easier than standing here saying something, but the one thing I really, really... I have learned, and I always encourage the people that are with me, my guru brothers and sisters, to really know, to confront yourself is not easy, and to start by being true to yourself, if something, especially when I say something, and it hurts, or it causes annoyance or irritation. Maybe you don’t want to react because you are brought up that way: "That’s rude, that’s not kind, that’s not nice." At least look at yourself and say, "God, she irritates me," and then you can work with that irritation, and that’s how we grow together. That’s when you open yourself, and I don’t have hesitation to open myself. It’s then a give and take, and we can all, without exception, learn from each other and grow with each other, and if you have that focus, "Why am I here? Why am I with Swāmījī? What would I like to get out of this situation?" and you keep that focus in mind, it really, really helps people, because I have noticed from experience also that we get absolute full support from Swāmījī and the whole lineage, and that is something, it’s so subtle, it’s so gentle, but when you look back over nine years in Varikadu, God pray that there is a change, and there has been a change. And I encourage everybody, if that is the purpose of being here, just persevere. Thank you. Nithyabharasau Ananda Prabhupadhyalu ke amrita-hashis. Nithyabharasau Ananda. Jhuga-jhuga-jivoma-heshwaranandaji. Dānyā bhāgabhārata-bumikā pragate bālamukandā. Trita paka pa pahara tahe jena chanda Prabhu. Trita pahara tahe jena chanda. Śrī Dīpā Dayāluke Amṛtāhāśiṣ Nityamaraso Prabhu Dīpā Dayāluke Amṛtāhāśiṣ Nityamaraso Juga Juga Jīvam Maheśvarānandajī Bhakti-jñāna-urā-yoga-sādhanā Brahma-jñāna-sukha-khaṇḍa Viśva Vijayī Ho Mahā Samrāṭaha Vicala Jñānabhaṅga Prabhu Vishwa Vijayī Ho Mahā Samrāṭaha Vichāla Gyānabhaṅga Juga Juga Jīvo Maheśvarānandajī Śrī Dīpa Dayāluke Amṛtaha Śiśanītha Baraso Ānanda Prabhu Dīpa Dayāluke Amṛtaha Śiśanītha Baraso Ānanda Juga Juga Jīvam Maheśvar Ānandajī Juga Juga Jīvam. Apanā rūpa samajh kar sabaku karte ho nirbandhā. Jeevana Mukta Kare Bhakto, Prabhu Jeevana Mukta Kare Bhakto Ko. Juga Juga Jeevam Maheshwaranandaji, Juga Juga Jeevam Maheshwaranandaji. Śhrī Deepa Dayāluke Amṛitaha Śhiśhanita, Prabhu Deepa Dayāluke Amṛitaha Śhiśhanita. Juga, juga, jīvo Maheśvarānandajī. Juga, juga, jīvo Maheśvarānandajī. Śrī Pūjā Bhagavān Dīpanārāyaṇa rakhte āpne saṅga. Śrī Mādhavānandajī, Ānandasekhetabhūmādhavānandajī, Ānandasekhetadukkhāpandajugajugajīvamaheśvarānandajī, juga jīva Maheśvarānandajī. Śrīdhī pādayālu ke amṛta hāśiṣ, Nityabharasoḥ ānanda. Prabhūdī padāyālu ke amṛta hāśiṣa, Nityabhārasoha ānanda Juga Juga Jīva Maheśvarānandajī Śrīdīpa Nārāyaṇa Bhagavad Gītā Śrī Śrī Alak Deva Puruṣa Mahādeva Gītā Śrī Śrī Alak Puruṣa Mahādeva Gītā Śrī Śrī Mādhava Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya, Śrī Śrī Svāmijī Mośvarānanda Puruṣottama Gurudeva Kī Jaya.

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:

Email Notifications

You are welcome to subscribe to the Swamiji.tv Live Webcast announcements.

Contact Us

If you have any comments or technical problems with swamiji.tv website, please send us an email.

Download App

YouTube Channel