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Part 1: The Spiritual Glory of India: A Satsang on Yoga and the Bhajan ‘Dhanya Dhanya Bhārat Bhūmi’ An Indian diplomat, welcoming everyone to the āśram, shared his heartfelt admiration: “This is a spiritual lecture about Yoga in the Indian tradition. It is an opportunity to speak here in your prestigious āśram. Why this āśram? Because we need to bring out all the possible spiritual sides of India. But I think I am perhaps not very qualified to speak on the subject, for it is a very vast subject. If someone wants to speak on it, he may spend two or three hours; the whole satsaṅg will go on, but I will not take much time. Today, as we were going through the process of various yogas, āsanas and other disciplines, and watching how your bhaktas performed all these items, I felt ashamed of myself because I knew nothing. Perhaps we who are in the Indian diplomatic service keep moving from country to country, and like a rolling stone we gather no moss. It was quite amazing to see people in the Czech Republic doing all these things in such a relaxed and easy way. My heartiest congratulations to all of you. Talking about India and its culture: India is a vast country. Most of you have visited India not just once, maybe many times, and you might have travelled to parts of the country I have not yet been able to reach. You will have seen the diversity of India—not only climatically or physically. Swamiji was showing the Himalayas today, so full of snow, while in the south you can break into a sweat. It is truly an amazing country, where not only different religions—Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism—all live together in harmony, but many sects, many ways of life exist together. That is why we call it unity in diversity. Regarding Indian culture, I would say that you are the best people, the best ambassadors of Indian culture, who are spreading it abroad. In your efforts, whatever assistance, whatever help we can render or extend, we shall be very happy to do so. I say this not from my official position, because I am here today in my personal capacity at the invitation of my friend. So once again, my wife and I are very happy and very grateful to all of you, to Swami Gajānandjī, and to our friends who gave us this wonderful opportunity to meet such wonderful people and learn something about Indian culture. Thank you very much. Děkuji vám.” A second speaker, a Swami, then took up the thread: “Thank you for your short and sweet speech. But we are not yet ready with the topic of India. During our beautiful Skype interview with Swamiji this afternoon, he very clearly pointed to a particular bhajan—one that, during my twelve years living in India, I think I sang most often. Dhanya dhanya Bhārata bhūmi. It is a little too strong. And Swamiji said, ‘When I am in a good mood, I might speak about it.’ So I have no choice—I must be in a good mood! This is a bhajan by Swāmī Madhavānandjī, Swāmījī’s master, on the glory of the country of India. I once expressed it in a speech for the Lions Club: India is like the spiritual sun, and the other countries are like the sun’s rays. Honestly, I think this is true for our present time. If we go back in history, maybe it was different—Egypt, Greece, the Mayas, Incas. But at present, it is clear: India is the centre of spirituality in the world—not in a limited political sense, but this whole area including Nepal, Tibet, and so on. In that speech I also said: when a ray becomes dark, it does not matter too much, but when the sun itself becomes dark, that is a problem not only for the sun but for the whole world. Unfortunately, this is something I have observed in India. The influence of Western culture is nowadays so strong that many Indians no longer value their own culture; they see it as old‑fashioned and look to the West, desiring its materialism. It was quite funny for them when I, a Westerner, came to India as a Swami and said, ‘Sorry, that is a dead‑end road—I am just coming back the other way.’ We must understand that Swāmījī’s work in recent years has concentrated more and more on India, and the biggest āśram he is building is there. Indian culture is great, but it needs protection today. This bhajan speaks of the greatness of India, Indian culture and Indian spirituality. Dhanya dhanya Bhārata bhūmi – Glory, salutation to the country of India. Just to inform everyone, ‘Bharat’ is the official name of India. Koṭi koṭi vandanā mahārāja – thousands, millions of salutations from my side. But, you see, it is a bhajan by Holī Gurujī, and Holī Gurujī is one hundred percent a bhakta of Mahāprabhujī. So you can guess what comes next. Siddhi pradāyaka deśa yahī – ‘It is a country of the merciful Mahāprabhujī.’ Hamako prāṇoṃ se ati pyārā – and it is dearer to us than our own life. Dhanya dhanya Bhārata bhūmi – Glory to the country of India. Viśva hitakārī parama sukha sāgara, Prabhu ne līyā yahī avatāra – The Lord incarnated here, just here, to save the world, to save the worldly people, the ocean of bliss. Ananta ṛṣi muni aura yogī, Bhārata kitne ūñce siddha – countless saints are like the glorious stars of India. Rāma, Kṛṣṇa you know anyway; Guru Nānak, the founder of Sikhism; Gāndhī, Nehrū, Niyāhī, Dehedara—they all incarnated there. He also refers to political leaders of India: Lālā Bahādur and Patel, leaders strong as iron. In a very poetical way he praises the beauty of the country. This is the line about which Swāmījī spoke in the interview: Himālaya mastaka para hima svarṇa kamala mukuṭa dhara – the Himalaya mountains are like the head of the country, and the snow on top is like a crown. He speaks of the holy rivers—you all know about the Kumbha Melā. He mentions three: Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Kāverī, which is in South India. Bhārata ke ye caraṇa pakhāra – they are like washing the feet of India. In a very poetic way, India is a holy country, a saint; you very respectfully wash the feet of a saint, here and now, of this holy land. Then Holī Gurujī compares India with different lokas: Indra loka Brahma loka svarga se baḍhī bhūmi, kima hima apārā. He compares India with Indra Loka, with Brahma Loka and with Svarga Loka. Svarga means heaven, and Indra Loka is like the highest heaven. And he says the glory of India is greater than even they. That is easily understandable, because when you are in heaven you receive your good karmas back, but basically you cannot act. The devas there are not liberated; they are still in the cycle of birth and death. Only on this earth can you act and strive directly for liberation. And the best, of course, is to live in a spiritual country like India. What is a little astonishing is that Holī Gurujī mentions Brahma Loka in this context. When we are actually struggling on our spiritual path, our aim is Brahmaloka, liberation. So we need to think a bit about why he says India is even greater than Brahmaloka. You see, when you are liberated and in Brahmaloka, you have no problem. But still, you might have one problem: you see others suffering—not in Brahmaloka, but on earth. And this is the only reason why God incarnates again and again on this earth. This is why Pālī Gurujī says, Mokṣa aura sevā, yadi tulanā kareṅ to sevā adhika bhārī hai – liberation and service, if you compare them, service actually weighs more. That is why God again and again renounces the bliss of Brahmaloka and comes to earth, to do sevā here. And the best conditions for this are in India. So when God incarnates on earth in India, and when Mahāprabhujī incarnates on earth in India, that means He prefers India even over Brahmaloka, in order to serve us. Devī devatā vandanā Bhārata bhūmi – here it says clearly: the gods, devīs and devatās in heaven, they also praise the glory of Bhārata, of India. Saba karatī hai jaya jaya kāra – they all praise again and again. Because they are, at the moment, not here; they are there and cannot do anything. Sāgara laharoṅ se Bhārat kī śobhā nyārī – again about the beauty of the country: the beauty of India is greater even than the waves of the ocean. Then comes something very funny, I would say. In the last verse, Gurujī gives a complete postal address: Rājasthāna, Pālī, jile meṃ, Jādan. If you write this on a letter, it will definitely arrive. That means in Rajasthan, Pālī district, Jādan village. He says, Guru Viśvaguru dvārā – there is the temple for the whole world. ‘Guru Dvārā’ is actually a Sikh term for a temple; literally, the place of the Guru. Viśvaguru dvārā means the temple, the place, the āśram for the whole world. So here Holy Gurujī directly speaks about our Jādan āśram. He thinks very practically: if someone likes a bhajan, he should know where to go. Deśa ke dīpaka śrī Dīpa dayālu – now he speaks about Mahāprabhujī and plays a little with the words of His name. You know that ‘Deep’ is the name of Mahāprabhujī, but ‘deep’ also means the light, the divine light. So he says, ‘The light of the country is the merciful Mahāprabhujī.’ Jagat kī jyoti ho tū ujjvala – this light is the light for the whole world. Holī Gurujī says, again and again, my praṇām and salutation to the holy country of India. Now I will try to sing it—since I am no longer in India, I still sing it. So Holī Gurujī praises India as the country of Mahāprabhujī. But I would like to add one thing: for us, it is even more important that it is also the country of our master. So that was our salute to the country of India. Through Swāmījī we have all been deeply introduced to Indian culture and spirituality, so every time a representative of the country is among us, we are happy. My voice signals that I should not talk too much at the moment. Therefore, I would like to give the word now to some among us who have experiences with Mahāprabhujī. We started yesterday evening after the prayer—this was not on the webcast. One friend shared something; I asked if he could repeat it for those who came new and for our friends on the webcast.” A devotee then recounted: “I remember a time just a year ago when Swāmī Maheśvarānanda was in Prague, giving a public lecture on Ājñā Cakra. We all know the stories from Līlā Amṛt. Sometimes I wonder that I myself have no so‑called mystical experience, nothing for me. At that lecture, together with me were my father and a friend. They don’t know about yoga or the Līlā Amṛt stories. Thanks to that, I could receive Swamiji’s message. The lecture ended. Afterwards, my friend just mentioned, ‘Wow, I have seen things today.’ I was, of course, very curious, but as we say, it is not good to stick your nose into other people’s affairs. I thought, if I am to know it, I will; if not, then better not. But I hoped to learn it. In the evening, that friend went to catch the last train to Plzeň, her hometown. I live in Říčany, so I was leaving with my father. We said goodbye, and she didn’t mention anything. I thought, ‘Well, now I will never know what she actually saw, because God knows when we will meet again.’ And God really knew, though I didn’t. Twenty minutes later, I got a short message on my phone: she had missed the train and was coming to our place to stay overnight. So she stayed with us. The following day, in the afternoon, we invited her for lunch. I was more and more curious, but still I didn’t ask. Finally, when lunch was almost over, she started to speak about it herself. I am happy I learned it from her, because if I had seen what she saw, I might have started to doubt it after one or two days, thinking I had made it up from the Līlā Amṛt stories. She told me: ‘During the lecture, I saw your master. Sometimes I saw him as a very young man, sometimes as he is now, and sometimes as a very old man.’” The Swami then interjected: “Thank you. I should not repeat a mistake I made yesterday—keeping the children waiting too long so they must go to bed without getting anything. But before that, I would like to ask: is there anyone who has a birthday today? I know at least one person: Daniel Kropipčak from Slovakia is having a round birthday—ten years! That is for you. Anyone else? Maybe yesterday? A child? Yesterday in the satsaṅg I asked if any of us have personal experiences with Mahāprabhujī, and we heard one report just now. I also received an email response from Hamburg that I find very valuable, so I printed it out and would like to share it with you. This is from Sangeeta in Hamburg. She wrote: ‘In 1994 my mother died. Exactly one year later, at the same time as her death, I was on my way to the āśram. At least once a year, on the exact day someone passed away, you should remember your ancestors—do some prayer, some mālās, or give some nice prasād in the āśram and dedicate it to them. So I was on my way to light a candle for my mother. But it was winter, and on the icy path I fell and broke my right arm. I cried out, ‘Mahāprabhujī! Au, au, au!’ ‘Au’ is, of course, what you say when you have pain, but in Hindi it means ‘Please come’—from ānā, ‘to come’; āo, ‘please come.’ At that time I did not know this; I cried out in pain. But in the next moment, a taxi came, and I jumped in. The driver wanted to drive me to the hospital…’” The satsang thus flowed from yoga and culture, to the living praise of Bhārat Bhūmi, and into the intimate sharing of grace. Part 2: In the Shelter of Mahāprabhujī: Visions, Dreams, and Divine Protection But I said, "No, no, drive me to the ashram." So, with my broken arm, I went first to the ashram to light the candle and pray for my mother. And afterwards, I went to the hospital. At that time, many people had fallen on the ice, and the doctors were working like crazy, hour after hour. So when it was finally my turn, they had already worked for twenty hours. In their tiredness, they made some mistakes. I was very afraid, but it had to be done. On the day of the surgery, I was lying in one of the operating rooms where the doctors had given me an injection to anesthetize the arm. I had to wait there for twenty-five minutes before being brought to the real operating theatre. During that time, I sang our full evening prayer loudly, to purify the entire hospital, the atmosphere, and to help all the people who, like me, also had to be operated on. The male nurses came to bring me to the orthopedic surgeon for the operation. One of the male nurses told me that the chief surgeon was very harsh – that he didn’t speak – but I should not be afraid. He wanted to comfort me, but now I was even more afraid of what would happen. It was exactly as he had told me. The surgeon was old, seemed to be very hard, no words, not even "good morning." So I lay there praying my mantra, thinking of Swāmījī and Mahāprabhujī, and praying, "Please protect me." The bones in my right wrist had to be fixed with two strong, long wires. To bring the wires into the bones, the surgeon needed to drill them with a drilling machine into my arm. When he said, "Now it will be loud because of the machine," I started to shout out, "Oh God, oh God." And the surgeon answered, "There is no God." But I replied, "Oh yes, God is here and everywhere." Behind the surgeon’s back, the male nurse smiled and gave me a sign with his fingers, "Yes, yes, very good." But then, in the next moment, the drilling machine went into my arm. Even though it was anesthetized, I did not feel pain, but such a strong pressure went through my whole body that I screamed and screamed, "God, God, God!" And then it happened. The whole scene changed. In one second, all became Mahāprabhujī. He was the drilling machine. He was the surgeon. He was the male nurse and also the female nurse on my left side. He was the whole room, the operating table, and he was me. He was everything and everywhere. It was such an experience, to be one with all. To be all, only Mahāprabhujī – only Mahāprabhujī existing. I do not know how long it lasted. After this opening to the truth, everything else lost all interest. The surgeon had to drill another wire into the arm, but my consciousness was far away. The divine had shown me its truth. What a blessing in that situation. I am very thankful forever and ever. Oṁ Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān, Kī Jai, Satya Gurudeva, Kī Jai. Oṁ. Saṅgītā from Hamburg, let’s maybe sing another bhajan. Sometimes things materialize very quickly. I had just spoken about doing something for the ancestors. So, I just got information that this evening we will receive a special prasāda – a beautiful halvā, donated by Shanti, Bruno, and Strilky on behalf of her ancestors. Thank you. So I, Pārvatī Jī, would also like to contribute something. Pārvatī Jī is also going to contribute something. I would like to add to these stories about Mahāprabhujī. I have a few little notes ready. I have mostly dreams, or you would call them minor experiences or minor stories. Something you may have heard already. I would like to start with my first dream of Mahāprabhujī. It happened before I became a disciple, at the time when I was deciding whether to become a disciple or not. I had already practiced yoga, but I was attending a different group. That group had a philosophy that we have our inner guru and there is no need for an external or physical guru – and definitely not a guru from India. But then it became clear that this was not the right view, and I was helped by a dream. I dreamt that a group of people were underground, in some underground corridors, and we wanted to get out. After some time, we succeeded. We got out, and then the second quest was to find a treasure. Suddenly Mahāprabhujī started to appear. And it was interesting – you may know the picture of Mahāprabhujī wearing a turban. The first picture of Mahāprabhujī that I got afterwards was that exact picture. And he was quoting some verses from the Upaniṣad, and I think it was about, "I reside within you." And so we went on the path, and finally we reached this treasure. So it was very nice for me; even before I actually started this journey, I got the confirmation that if I did not do something foolish, I would reach the treasure. But I must say, we started with quite a few people; on the way, some joined us, but in the end, there were not so many who actually reached the treasure. After receiving the mantra, I had another beautiful experience. I was looking at the picture of Mahāprabhujī, and it started to change into a living person. But unfortunately, I got shocked, I got scared, and in that moment, it disappeared and started to change back into the picture. I have heard that there are some disciples in Europe and India too who managed this in a better way and truly received the darśan of Mahāprabhujī through that. Around that time, I also had my own very beautiful experience: I was repeating my mantra, and suddenly I could hear a very beautiful, fatherly voice, a very harmonious voice. And the voice was saying, "I am the one you are searching for." Another such story – again I was repeating a mantra. I think both of these happened on the bus, actually. I was repeating the mantra, and the idea just came to my mind: what a richness it is, what we have been given. The thought was, "It’s like gold." And the voice again repeated, "Yes, it is gold, yes, it is gold." For me, it was Mahāprabhujī. And then I was sometimes given dreams about or with Mahāprabhujī. You may have heard this before – I have told it many times – but I will repeat it. We were trying to build an ashram. It was a house in the countryside, and we would come there for a week or for a weekend. Once I went there alone. I had arrived earlier to get it ready, expecting others to come later. And suddenly, the atmosphere of the house fell upon me. The feeling was of being really far from civilization, alone, in a deserted house. So there was a kind of fear; it was not a pleasant feeling. I told myself, "I will solve it by just sleeping through it. I will wake only when the others are there." So I went to bed. But I didn’t escape. I had a dream in which I was lying on that very bed, afraid. Fortunately, I remembered Mahāprabhujī, and Mahāprabhujī suddenly appeared with a great radiance shining out from him. This radiance was showering all around the room. And in this light, I could see some small, strange creatures, and they seemed to be craving the light. I had a feeling that maybe those were my bad qualities, or the things I am to overcome. And I will overcome them thanks to Mahāprabhujī’s light. I must check my notes now. I had different dreams in unpleasant situations, and as soon as I remembered Mahāprabhujī, the situation changed. For example, I dreamt that I was walking on a path, and suddenly a big dog was running towards me – it was some kind of wild, beastly dog. I certainly didn’t want to meet it. But there was no other way, so I remembered Mahāprabhujī. And at the same time, I remembered that love is the great power. As soon as I realized those things, suddenly that huge, big dog beast turned into a little puppy and wanted to play with me. Then I had a similar dream. I was climbing a staircase, and coming towards me was another person – very unpleasant. I had a strong feeling that I did not want to meet that person. So again I was begging Mahāprabhujī. And suddenly, instead of that very negative person, there was a rose. So I understood that it was a symbol of his divine ātmā, of what is inside him. Mahāprabhujī showed me that this is actually his ātmā, so I was able to go past him without fear. I had another very educative dream. I was going home with Mahāprabhujī. The weather was very unpleasant, raining with a sharp wind. It was cold, so my only thought was to be home as soon as possible. But Mahāprabhujī was sort of holding me, so I just went steady, steady. I remember there was a puddle of water, and I wanted to jump over it, but Mahāprabhujī kicked my legs to stop me, and so I didn’t fall. It is said that the spiritual path is a path on the edge of a knife. And maybe when someone wants to take a shortcut, it turns out to prolong the way. When you want to save time and jump somewhere, you may even hurt yourself. I often remember this and say to myself, "Manavadhīra Dhīra," as if my mind goes slowly. And also, a story you may have heard in the summer: I read in one of Swāmījī’s lectures that during Yoga Nidrā, a person is actually able to witness the first moments of their life. I thought, "Well, it would be nice; I would be interested to see that." I forgot about it afterwards. Then once, while practicing yoga nidrā, suddenly I was somewhere else. I was standing next to Mahāprabhujī, telling him goodbye. We were saying farewell, and I was about to go to the earth. But saying farewell was so easy, because it was like when you are at home and you just go shopping for a while, and you know you’ll soon be back. So you just say farewell quickly, because you know you are coming back very soon. That’s how it felt. I learned much from this experience. It always reminds me of what Swāmījī tells us: to know the value of human life. Why are we here? What is our duty? What is our task here? And so on. So sometimes I remember this, and I try to live my life this way, because I think we are all in the process of seeing that we are returning to Mahāprabhujī, and then we come back. So that when we meet him, we are not ashamed of anything. We come with a pure conscience, and that reunion will be a happy one. Another experience I had during Mahāsamādhi: we would celebrate Mahāsamādhi by meeting in one flat, holding satsaṅg and staying awake until late at night – about one o’clock or so. I wasn’t much used to staying awake so late, so it was not easy for me. Once, we managed to keep going until half past twelve. This is after midnight, which is actually the time when Mahāprabhujī was born, according to Indian time, because of the time difference between India and Europe. And I got a vision, or I could see Mahāprabhujī as a gardener. He had a watering pot, or a watering can, in his hand, and he was taking care of a rose. He was taking care of the entire garden. I could see the great care and great love with which he was tending. And I think, together with Holy Gurujī and Swāmījī, we can’t find better gardeners. We can’t find better care than the one we are given. And then I remember a kind of funny dream. I was really longing to go to India, but it was during the communist era; it was just a dream, practically impossible. Once I had a dream to encourage me: Mahāprabhujī arrived, turned me into a banana, and put me into his pocket. He went to the airplane and flew to India. Later I learned that in dreams, a banana symbolizes a promise. And really, after some time, the times changed, and I was indeed able to go to India. Now, a story of how Mahāprabhujī and Swāmījī saved us once. We were traveling back from Vep. Swāmījī had invited those who were interested to visit him in Vienna too, so we went there. Swāmījī told our driver to go very slowly. The driver took it seriously. On the way, we found that there had been a sudden change of weather, and all the roads were very icy. The boy who was driving was used to driving very fast, but he respected Swāmījī’s advice and kept going slowly. Then we slipped on the highway. The car spun around completely, like the hands of a clock, and we came to a halt sideways, across the middle of the highway. Our first reaction was the right one: all of us immediately remembered Mahāprabhujī and our mantra. As soon as we did that, the car, by itself, turned and turned a long way and ended up at the side of the highway. Just as we cleared the road, another car came speeding past. If we had stayed there across the highway, or if we hadn’t managed to turn in time, of course there would have been a crash, and we probably wouldn’t be here. I think many of you have similar stories of your lives being saved, of help arriving just when it is needed. Once more, a dream. I dreamt that some high vibrations were going through me. This dream repeated. On one hand it was pleasant, on the other hand I was afraid. I didn’t know what was going to happen – what did it mean? So I used the well-known technique: I asked Mahāprabhujī for help. Then I saw Mahāprabhujī in my ājñā cakra, with a key in his hand. I realized that he locked those things away, and he will unlock them again when I am ready. I consider this a very great help, because when you get experiences you are not ready for, it may not end well. So, like all of you, I am so grateful to Mahāprabhujī for so, so many things. And I am very, very happy that I am on this path. Bole Śrī Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān, Kī Jai, Satya Gurudeva, Kī Jai. Thank you, Pārvatī Jī, for sharing. Let’s have another bhajan, okay? You still have time to fix it. Thank you. I would like to remind you of one event that Swāmījī spoke about. It was one night during the Mahāsamādhi celebration of Mahāprabhujī. I think it was in the Vienna Ashram – maybe fifteen or twenty years ago. I’m sure the German speakers know, because it’s on a video in the German language. Part 3: Reflections on Mahāprabhujī: Darśan, Devotion, and Divine Grace I recall a story, though my memory is vague and I may be corrected—please do if you know better. It happened during a Mahāsamādhi celebration, in a long night satsaṅg. After the satsaṅg ended, everyone sat down for meditation. I believe it was exactly the Mahāsamādhi night, which today we no longer observe. Many disciples gathered in the meditation hall, meditating on Mahāprabhujī. Swamījī went to his room and also meditated there. In his meditation, Swamījī received the darśan of Mahāprabhujī and was completely overwhelmed. Mahāprabhujī asked if he had any wish. Being the Guru who always thinks of his disciples, Swamījī replied, “Yes, I have a wish. You have come here and given me darśan, but down in the hall there are many disciples, also full of love and bhakti, thinking of you and praying to you. Could you please give your darśan to them as well?” Mahāprabhujī answered, “I’m sorry, that is not possible.” Swamījī asked, “Why?” Mahāprabhujī said, “Because none of them is sure. They are only temporary disciples. Within some years, none of them will be on the way any more.” Mahāprabhujī refused to grant them darśan because he knew the future. He knew how serious the disciples were. Some years later, when Swamījī spoke about this, he confirmed, “Yes, it has already turned out to be true.” It is a beautiful experience, but also, I think, a teaching for us. I checked with the Vienna devotees—was my recollection correct? One said it happened more than twenty-five years ago. Another added that it took place in Śikhā Nidrā. Now, is there someone else who would like to share a personal experience in connection with Mahāprabhujī? No? Then I asked, “Our technique, how far are you developed?” “Yes, very good.” Would you like to say something? Hari Om, dear friends. I would like to continue with the story of Saṅghītā from Hamburg. Perhaps this happened the very same year. I want to tell this story to highlight the beauty of how he guides you through the process—giving advice, helping, and then caring for you all the time, even years later. It was 1991–92, and there was a seminar in Vienna. We were invited, and the fee was three hundred shillings. At the time, I didn’t have that much money, and I was also building a house, so I decided not to go. The evening before the seminar, two friends called and told me, “We have a free place, please come with us.” It was the first of May, and I apologized, saying I really had to start construction work on the house, so I wasn’t coming. The next day, when I arrived at the construction site, the wooden roof beams started to collapse. I fell from the roof onto my back, onto a pile of material. When I got up, my right hand was hanging from the wrist. The first thought that came to mind was: You know where you were supposed to be today? At the hospital, after the X-ray, the surgeon said, “There isn’t much to do—the bone is so shattered with many small fractures. The hand will likely be immobile.” Still, they operated. While I was given anesthesia, the only thought I held onto was Mahāprabhujī. I repeated my mantra and fell asleep with my mantra. When they applied the plaster cast, I asked, “Please, can you leave these three fingers sticking out so I can still use my mālā?” Because the next weekend, another seminar in Vienna was starting, and its fee was six hundred shillings. I decided I absolutely had to go. But the story doesn’t end there. After a year of training and rehabilitation—and it’s not the end—I carefully practiced wrist movements. Even so, whenever I worked physically with that hand, it would often become overheated, and I couldn’t move my wrist for days. Here in Strilky, during a Karma Yoga session, we were collecting branches and fruit. Swāmījī was present with us. At that moment, I didn’t realize he was close by. I was walking along and suddenly felt someone catch me by the wrist, hold it for a moment, and then release. I turned my head, and truly, Swāmījī was standing there. He had simply touched my wrist and then walked away. Since that day, my hand has been perfectly well. This is the beauty of our master. Now, just a moment. Last night I mentioned that I tried to contact an Indian man who is personally a disciple of Mahāprabhujī. I had tried a month ago during the Divālī seminar, on Mahāprabhujī’s and Holī Gurujī’s Mahāsamādhi, but it wasn’t possible because he was in a village in India with poor connection. Yesterday it seemed impossible again. But Mahāprabhujī teaches in his golden teaching: “Do your work with firm determination, and success is sure.” If it’s for a good, non-selfish purpose, we really should be persistent. So I thought, I can’t reach him in America, not in India—let me send an email. He responded, and in fact, he is back in America already. Only, he doesn’t have Skype. So unfortunately, we cannot have a Skype interview to see him, but we will try to telephone him. Let’s see if the technique works, despite a small complication for the technical team managing the webcast and computer simultaneously. When you are in such a family, you are automatically in satsaṅg. All the time we spoke about Mahāprabhujī, I could hear you very well. Ramachandrajī is a retired veterinary doctor. He actually came especially to meet me this last time I was in Atlanta, a year ago—which I truly appreciated. I asked him a little about his experiences with Mahāprabhujī. Ramachandrajī, would you like to talk? Can you introduce yourself a little? “Yes, it is my pleasure to bring my thoughts and prayers to your meeting for Mahāprabhujī’s Mahāsamādhi Gāī. My name is Amchander Puroit. I live in the U.S.” Please speak slowly so we can understand; there are some disturbing sounds. “Okay, I will talk very slowly. Watching the webcast at the same time.” I’m looking at the website but turned off the sound to hear you. Now it’s better. Can you please introduce yourself? Who you are, where you are from, and tell us a bit so we can understand you. “My name is Amchander Puroit. I live in the U.S. I was born in the village Gennady, about two kilometers from Bolakur. I have known Mahāprabhujī since my childhood. Mahāprabhujī came to the village Gāndhī in 1940, and my great-grandfather, Śāntan Singh, and my father, Śāntan Kṛṣṇa, invited him before he established his āśram in Bālāguḍā. This was when Mahāprabhujī moved from Kāṭhū to Bolā Guḍā. I was about seven or eight when I remember Mahāprabhujī. He was our family guru. He gave guru vatsan to all of our family—my grandfather, grandmother, the whole family. We used to walk from our village, Kennedy, to Boracuda, about two kilometers, to visit Mahāprabhujī as often as we could. Gendri is also about two kilometers from Nepal, where Swāmījī Madhavānandajī was residing or born. In the 1950s, Mahāprabhujī moved back to Kāṭhū. I have many, many experiences and associations all my life with Mahāprabhujī, because we were not only his disciples but his family. When Mahāprabhujī moved to Kathu, the cot he used to sleep on in Balakura was sent to our house, and it is still in our house in Kandy. Now, let me say a few things about Mahāprabhujī himself. He never liked a big crowd or talking a lot. He had a persona—I call it a persona. When I was around him, you didn’t have to ask a question. He would answer whatever you were thinking. All my life, if I was next to him, he’d put his arm around me and call me by my first name: ‘Ram, what do you want?’ or ‘What are you thinking?’ and then answer without my asking. In the interest of time, I will share a few experiences. One concerns my education. With his blessing, when I was about ten years old, I told him I wanted to go to the USA. He gave me his blessing to get all the education I wanted. So, with his blessing, I earned two doctoral degrees, one a DVM and one a PhD. I will recount one unusual experience from 1961–62. I was in a veterinary college and planning to travel in December to my home in Gendry. I went to the railway station in Bikaner to buy a ticket, but I received a message from my mother—there was no telephone. She said it was time to visit Mahāprabhujī before coming home. So I bought a plane ticket to Nagar, and next morning reached Nagar and took a bus to Khartoum. Getting off the bus, I saw a car and van coming. In them were Mahāprabhujī, three or four disciples, and his cook. They told me to get in, and we went to Azmir that night. We stayed at a Catholic nursing home, where the rooms were ready. It was a divine purpose that I was the only one in the group who spoke English—I had learned English from age five. So when we arrived, I could communicate. That was the reason my plan changed, to go with Mahāprabhujī to Ajmer. I stayed with him for three or four days. Then one day he looked at me and said, ‘It’s time to go see your mother.’ He gave me permission, and I left. It was June 1964 when I went to the US. In 1990, I visited Kathu and Mahāprabhujī’s samādhi. Sitting in front of his bed, my eyes closed, my body shook. I looked up, and there was Mahāprabhujī sitting on the bed—this was 1990. He raised his right hand to show me something on the right. There were my mother and Mahāprabhujī’s court master, both deceased long ago, sitting there too. That experience I never forgot. As I said, all our family are Mahāprabhujī’s disciples. I want to thank Swamījī for letting me speak. If you have any questions, I’ll be glad to answer.” Maybe you could tell us how you felt. “Well, Mahāprabhujī, even today, when I… There were several things I asked him. When he gave the Guru Mantra, I told him I couldn’t meditate for half an hour. He told me the only thing I need is to recite the Guru Mantra three times in the morning when I get up, and three times before bed. The Guru Mantra he gave was very unique; I never found it in any books. He said it’s enough to remember it three times in the morning and three times in the evening. On the other hand, I knew that whenever I needed something, he would always help me, and he was there for me. I can’t even describe what a blessing it was for me and the whole family to be with Mahāprabhujī.” Any more questions? Thank you very much. “I can talk about Mahāprabhujī all my life.” It was a little difficult to understand you. I would request, if possible in the coming weeks, to install Skype. Then in the next interview we can be better in touch. Because the telephone echo makes it very hard. Okay, all the best. Thank you. It was a little difficult, wasn’t it? When you have a strong saṅkalpa, it sometimes gets fulfilled doubly. Because he was actually on the webcast two and a half years ago—I had no idea. Someone sent me that file after my announcement yesterday. I don’t want to challenge the video team too much, but I think after prayer we can maybe see that, and it’s quite easy to understand. But you see, we are really in a special situation. We don’t need to guess about Mahāprabhujī. We can know—there are people who still personally knew Mahāprabhujī, and that is great. Just pray that these elderly persons stay many years more with us, so we can collect more wisdom and experiences from them. Holī Gurujī sang so beautifully, and he stayed with us for so many years. Yet only a fraction of his bhajans was recorded. We love to sing Mahāprabhujī’s bhajans, but we have hardly any recording of his own bhajans. So sometimes it’s important that we demand—before the chance is gone. Okay, let’s have a bhajan. Are you tired? Or should we have prayers straight away? Prayer is also a bhajan. Good, then let’s have prayer. And goodbye to our friends on the webcast.