TV Channel

Part 1: The Essence of All Practice Blessings from the holy land of Nepal, from the divine Himalayas—Annapurna. Himalaya has many meanings: ‘Him’ means snow, ice, and glaciers; it also means gold. Himalaya is known as the kingdom of God Śiva. Śiva is the king of the Himalayas, and Pārvatī is the goddess of the Parvata, the mountains. These peaks—Annapurna, Everest, Kailāśa—are places where two types of incarnations appeared and saw the way to the world. First are the Nitya Avatāras: the great ṛṣis, saints, yogīs, and yatīs. Second are Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva. Their tapasyā, their austerity, is beyond our imagination. We cannot compare ourselves to them. We can only remember them, adore them, and wonder: how did those ṛṣis achieve such a high level of consciousness? They had no facilities like we have. When it is cold, we have heaters; when warm, air conditioning. We have abundant food and waste more than we eat. Their life was not easy, yet they contemplated deeply. They observed the conditions of this earth and pondered: How will humans survive? What is this jīva? Where does it come from? How was it created? Who put the first seed? For us, these questions are unanswerable. What was first, the seed or the tree? The mother or the child? This is the Adbhuta Racanā—an indescribable, miraculous creation. Yet, they knew how to help future generations in every yuga. They developed the science of yoga and made it easier for us—the essence, the sāra. All wisdom, all knowledge, all mantras, yantras, tantras, cakras, yajñas, and karmakāṇḍas are the blessings of God Śiva. Once, Pārvatī asked Lord Śiva, “You speak of so many techniques. You say, ‘This is very good, do it like this.’ But perfection takes many yugas. We want everything in one day, yet they had yugas to attain perfection.” She continued, “In the ocean of nectar, in Vaikuṇṭha, whenever I come, you are resting and enjoying your life. Meanwhile, people are calling you, practicing, building temples. So, are you in the temples or here?” Bhagavān Viṣṇu told Nārada, “I am not in the Vaikuṇṭha you see here; that is just my shadow, my aura. Nor am I there where yogīs, full of ego, have renounced everything, thinking, ‘Let the world go down, I don’t care. I will do my sādhanā and become Siddha, the perfect one.’ I am also not in their hearts. I am always there where my bhaktas are singing my name, my glory, in bhajan and kīrtan.” We think God is on holiday, or here or there, but He is omniscient and omnipresent—He is everywhere. So Pārvatī asked Bhagavān Śiva, “Lord, tell some simple techniques for Kali Yuga. People will have no discipline, no principles, no courage. Give the simple way. What is the essence of all your practices?” Bhagavān Śiva said, “When you ask me, I shall tell you the essence of everything—my own experiences.” Umā is the name of Pārvatī. Bhagavān said, “My own experience is that the truth, the reality, is only bhajan, which means bhakti. In Kali Yuga, bhakti is pradhān (supreme). In Kali Yuga, humans can cross the ocean of ignorance or suffering through bhakti yoga. Apnā merā, my own experience: Hari bhajan ek satya. The truth is God’s name, meditation, and good deeds.” We have very important energy functions in our existence: the pañca kośas (prāṇamaya, manomaya, vijñānamaya, ānandamaya kośas), and the antahkaraṇa: mana (mind), buddhi (intellect), citta (consciousness), and ahaṁkāra (ego). These are affected by mala (impurity), vikṣepa (disturbances), and āvaraṇa (the curtain of ignorance). Mana, buddhi, citta, and ahaṁkāra do not let go of these three. The truth is very hard to digest. As long as you don’t know, you are happy. When you come to know, you may become very unhappy. It is very hard, very deep within us. We say, “I understand saṃsāra,” and as long as it is impersonal, we accept it. But as soon as it becomes personal, we cannot digest it; we will not say it is okay. There is a story about Nirmohī Rājā. Nirmohī means one without attachment. Moha means māyā, ignorance, attachment, suffering. Moha is the cyclone that pushes the jīvātmā back into the ocean of saṃsāra. But how do we understand this ocean? Our body is our ocean of saṃsāra. Nearly 85% of our body is the water element. So you are in this ocean. We always sing of crossing the ocean of ignorance, of worldly māyā, saṃsāra, bhavasāgara. You entered this ocean when the jīva first descended into this śarīra, this body. You will leave it with your last breath, when the soul departs. So now you know: how is your life in this ocean? You may ask, “Swamiji, in which ocean are we swimming, and where is the boat?” This saṃsāra ocean is our very self. To master it is not easy. Mīrā Bāī said that in this ocean there are many sharks. The most dangerous are the great white and the tiger shark: kāma (lust), krodha (anger), mada (pride), lobha (greed), moha (attachment), and ahaṅkāra (ego). They are in every direction. Through yoga practice, through sādhanā, you can navigate this via Hari bhajan. Only one thing can rescue us, grant us salvation: Satguru Kṛpā, he kevalam—through satsaṅg. Saints bring satsaṅg; Kaṁsa (representing Asuras, Rākṣasas) brings kusāṅg. Sant means the saints who sit in satsaṅg. So you are all holy saints here. Pokhara is happy to have you. Businesspeople are happy too—where God is, there is Lakṣmī. When we Indians or Nepalese walk in the market, they say, “Namaste, come in.” In Kali Yuga, money is God for many, but not for those jñānīs, those bhaktas, those like Jñāneśvara—the lords of knowledge who brought this wisdom to help suffering beings cross this ocean of life. Umakau nijanubhav, apnā Hari bhajan ek satya—Bhagavān’s bhajan is the truth. It leads to Brahman, to Satyaloka. The Satguru came, satsaṅg came, and the jīva attained Śānti (peace) from Satyaloka. Both satsaṅg and the jīva will lead to Brahmaloka. To be like Nirmohī Rājā is not easy. But in ancient times, there were humans who endured, who rose above moha. Now we sing bhajans. What a blessing my Gurudev gave: he cut the bondage of my moha and turned my restless mind toward Brahman. But is this understanding on the surface or deep inside? You may talk of the impersonal, not the personal. Even while saying “merā” (mine), you tell others to follow this path. Once, a Mahātmā was meditating, perhaps in the Himalayas or a forest. A prince came riding on horseback—maybe hunting or on a picnic. Seeing a sādhu meditating in a small cave, he dismounted and offered praṇām. The sādhu asked, “Who are you?” The prince replied, “Gurudev, I am the son of Nirmohī Rājā.” The Mahātmā said, “Nirmohī Rājā? There is no Nirmohī Rājā. A king cannot be Nirmohī—without attachment. Nirmohī means no ‘mine,’ no ‘thine,’ no ‘theirs.’ Only one kudrat (destiny). Brahma satya, jagat mithyā. Perform seva equally, with love.” The prince said, “Excuse me, Gurudev, but my father, my family, is Nirmai. A Nirmai Rājā can only have a Nirmai Queen.” The Mahātmā said, “Then I wish to test if your father is truly Nirmai. Sit here until I return; do not go.” The prince agreed, “If you give me your blessing, your ājñā, I will sit here my whole life. I will follow your words.” The Mahātmā said, “Give me your shirt.” The prince gave it. The Mahātmā tore the shirt and stained it red with dye from roots, like blood. He took the shirt and walked to the king’s palace—a journey of a few hours, which yogīs of that time could manage with ease, unlike us today who may tire after a few hundred meters. From this Bhavasāgara, I thought we would soon be free. The Mahātmā announced he wished to speak to the king. The king welcomed him immediately, asking, “What can I do for you, Gurudev?” The Mahātmā, feigning sadness, said, “I bring you sad news.” He was testing whether the king had moha, attachment. To understand means to stand under that knowledge; to misunderstand means you missed it, you couldn’t stand under. He said, “King, I know you have only one child. He went riding in the forest. Unfortunately, a lion attacked your son. Here is his shirt.” He showed the blood-stained garment. The king said, “Gurudev, thank you for the message. But why did you interrupt your sādhanā to come here? If he has died, it is already too late. I hope you did not hunt away the lion—at least the hungry lion had some food. Everyone comes and goes according to their destiny.” The Mahātmā thought, “It seems he is Nirmai.” He asked, “You know it was your son?” The king replied, “Yes, Gurudev, I recognize his shirt. But he died, and the tiger was hungry. God gave him only that much life.” The Mahātmā then thought to test the queen, wondering if a mother’s heart would show moha. He asked, “May I pay my respects and offer condolences to the queen?” The king agreed. The queen welcomed him, performed āratī pūjā, and he told the same story. She said, “Gurudev, his life was only until now. Sooner or later, we all will go. But why did you interrupt your sādhanā? You should have prayed for his ātmā to reach Paramatmā. Still, thank you for informing us, so we do not wait for him to eat today.” The sadhu was now confused. He thought, “Either I am not normal, or they are not normal.” He said, “Mother, you are a mother, and he was your child. Are you not sad or angry?” She replied, “No. My duty was only to give him birth and provide śikṣā, education. His life was his own responsibility.” Thinking perhaps the young wife would have more attachment, he asked to see her. She agreed. He went to her, acting very dramatic and sad, and told the whole story. She said, “Gurudev, this is life. This is the festival of creatures on this planet. You see, on New Year’s Eve, it is so crowded you can hardly walk. This is the play, Carācarī kā khela—the drama of all creatures. Carācarī kā khela jag meṁ do din kā hai melā. This fair is only for two days: one was yesterday, one is today. Tomorrow is nothing—bye bye. Koī calā gayā (someone is gone), koī calā jāyegā (someone will go). Koī gaṭhrī bandh khaḍā khelā (someone has packed their luggage and is standing alone, waiting for the aeroplane or train or taxi). But Gurudev, at least you let the lion have its food.” The Mahātmā said, “My daughter, you are young, you are married. Are you not sad?” She replied, “No. Since I came into this house, sadness disappeared, for I too will go one day.” Then he called the king, queen, and the wife and said, “I bless you. Your sādhanā, detachment, love, and wisdom are great. Even I do not possess such quality. Your son is sitting in my cave, meditating. I asked him who he was, and he said, ‘I am the son of Nirmohī Rājā.’ O King, in this world, rare are those who are Nirmohī. Now I have proven that you are truly Nirmohī. This shirt is his, but I only wished to test your attachment. Had you cried, been sad or nervous, it would have shown otherwise.” He returned to the prince, blessed him, and said, “I adore you; you are truly the child of Nirmohī Rājā.” So we say: in the egg of a peacock, you need not put color inside; the chick emerges already colorful. Part 2: The Prison of Attachment Similarly, those who listen to the words of wisdom and the Guru in satsaṅg will automatically become like this. The entire problem, therefore, is moha—attachment. Sometimes we need something to make it clear that this is only moha, and that it is gone. A man died, and his wife was deeply sad. She could not leave the graveyard, sitting and crying day and night. She called to her husband, "Get up and come, darling. Get up and come, darling. You are not dead. Come, come." People told her he had died. She replied, "No, you died, he did not." She could not imagine that he was gone. One day, a sādhu came. The villagers asked, "Can you help her?" He said, "Okay." He took a beautiful water pot in his hands and walked near the graveyard where the young lady was crying for her husband. He said, "Oh, my darling, my beautiful water pot, my water pot, merī maṭkī, merī gaṭkī. Yeh merī gaṭkī hai, merī maṭkī, bahut acchī hai." The lady thought, "Is this man crazy?" He continued like this for an hour: "I love you, my pot, water pot. I love you. So nice. And this, sometimes up, sometimes here, sometimes there." Then he walked to within five meters of her and let the pot fall. It broke. The sādhu sat there crying, "My darling, come back. My darling, come back. My dear, come back. Oh, my dear one, come back. Come into my arms." The lady said, "Are you crazy?" He asked, "Why?" She said, "It is broken, it cannot come back." He replied, "And are you crazy? Your husband is dead, he cannot come back. Let's go home." Then she understood that he had died. So it is a fixed idea, moha. And we have moha not only for a person, but for a house, money, clothes, jewelry—for many, many things. This saṃsāra is a moha, and therefore it is tamaso mā jyotir gamaya: "Lord, lead us from the darkness of ignorance towards the light of wisdom." Bandhan, mṛṣā moha kā bandhan toṛ diyā, aiśvaryā guru deva dayā mere, bandhan toṛ diyā, aiśvaryā Guru Deva Dayā Mere Moha Kā Bandhan Toṛ Diyā, At Sadā Jagkār Ajñāhāraṇ Ko Jal Cit Ko Moḍ Diyā. Kaka emre virasgan todh diya, meri chand toda. Mera māna toḍe sikkarī gurudeva dayā, mera mujhatta gandhīśa sabba pānta garā. Chura kara īśvara pānta gara. When the form of the unmanifest is not taken, my dear ones, it is easy to speak and very nice to hear, but to come to the practical point... it is not so easy. It is not easy to be the Nirmohī Rājā. There is another story of a Nirmohī Rājā which I will not tell, otherwise you all will say, "Swāmījī, if it is so difficult, then better we go to Kuśāṅgā." Brahmanandjī Mahārāj—there is also a Brahmanandjī who was Mahāprabhujī’s disciple, a great person, a Brahmajñānī. You have the Bhajan book of Brahmanandjī. There was another Brahmanandjī, like a Sūrdās. This Swāmī Brahmanandajī Mahārāj wrote a bhajan. He was talking about moha, attachment. You know that each principle or tendency which is very deep, sitting in our intellect or subconsciousness, is supported by our indriyas. Because this moha is gently irritating our jñāna indriyas and karma indriyas. This is an attempt to bring the jīvātmā back again to this charaśī. What is the cause of coming back? Karma. What is the cause of the karma? Is that Karan, the causal body, Ānandamaya Kośa, with sattva quality, but it falls into rajas and tamas. Brahmanand Jī Mahārāj said: Attachment. That is called attachment. Moha is called a prison. That prison is the prison of many, many lives, not only one life. It is the life prison of the jīva throughout the universe, constantly trying to come out. Many, many lives of suffering are only because of the moha. That prison is one of the most terrible. So that is what Hari Gurujī said. The saints are the justice. The saints are the judges who give the judgment of the karmas of the bhaktas and liberate them from this bandhan of the mohas. Then, nirbandhan ho kar ke visar jātā hai. Mahāprabhujī said: śaraṇ parāyaṇ ho jāve to nirbandhan hoī, visare. Koti upāya kare, koī cāhā, na bhava sindhu tere. Gurudev bina karaj nahīṅ sare, śaraṇ parāyaṇ ho jāve to. If you have completely surrendered, taken shelter in Gurudev, then all bondage is gone. The entire universe belongs to you. You have freedom, just go. What a mercy of Gurudev, that he broke or cut off my bondage. Day and night I was running here, there, here, there to collect māyā, māyā... you know. There was a melā festival. The salesmen were very tired, but still they were awake until two o'clock at night. At 2 o'clock, the customer will come, the customer will come, he will pay 5 paise and go. "I don't know when the customer will come, so don't stop." Running, running all the time, day and night—all the work of the world, all the work in Bihar, to complete all my work in this world. "May I do this way? My company will be better. Will I do this way? It will be good. My shop will be good. My business will be good, my relations will be good. I don't like this, I will like this." This jīva, one night at two o'clock, I went to the bathroom, and the ants were active also. A small creature, an ant, is running everywhere. For what? To get happiness, searching, searching, but even the ant doesn't find that. The jīva is constantly wandering, traveling. Sapnā sam viśva dikhāyā mujhe, mere cañcal cit ko mod diyā. But Gurudev saw me, this saṁsāra, as a dream. And my chanchal chit—chanchal means restless, wanting to have this, this, everything—chanchal chit ko mod diya, twisted. He twisted my direction to the Brahmaloka. Ah, not again here and there. This chanchal means, "I want to have this, I want this, this... this." That is a problem. And who wants this? Moha. Which Moha? Attachment. What kind of attachment? "I want to have. Only I." If another one comes near the barber, the second barber opens a shop, and this barber has restless nights. No? Sorry, we have many barbers. They are very good. They are all brothers, so no one is angry. Jealousy. So out of the Moha, jealousy comes. And out of the jealousy, what comes? Suffering, pain. And out of the pain, what is there? A hill. Then the Jīva will go again. Moha ke bandhan me jata rehega, in the prison of the Moha. Chanchal chit ko mor diya, Gurudev made all clearly. Kya karna hai, tera kush nahi hai. Why are you like this? Nothing is yours. No one is yours. When you came, you brought nothing. What you got, you got it. What you have today, tomorrow will be someone's. So what you gained, what you lost, nothing. What you will gain is the karma, good or bad. Therefore, Hari bhajan. Hari bhajan. Umakau nijānubhavapna, hari bhajan ek satya, jagat sabh sapnā. Sabh saṁsāra is the sapnā. Koī sobh, sobh maheśa rate Patraṇī. What I have written, Gajānanda's writing is all bhajans, cannot be translated. Koi, what is this? There is no sobh. No, no... this is, sabh is wrong, but doesn't matter, I will correct. Someone is meditating on Śiva. Someone is celebrating this Devī, that one, this one, this spirit, that magic, that this. You know, day and night, with hope, expectation, "This will help me, this will help me." See, humans have such big feelings, and humans have such a big fear. So we are trying to rescue ourselves. Maybe this will help me, or this will help me, this will help me. Yes? Sab pantha grantha chhoda karke. But Gurudev made it very clear: all paths, "this is my way, this is their way, this is my religion"—he finished all that. There is only one religion. Humanity, sanātana dharma, only one God, eternal, which comes in different forms. God is only one. That's called God. That's all. Sab grantha, this book tells this, that book tells this. What else? Those whole books, all holy books. You may read the Rāmāyaṇa, you may read the Gītā, you may read the Upaniṣads, you may read the Vedas, you may read the Purāṇas, you may read the Bible, you may read the Quran, you may read the Torah, you may... read all the holy books which we adore. But what is the essence of all this teaching? Catur-Veda-Che-Śāstra. Four Vedas, six philosophies, which include all the holy books and literature. Bhat-Likhi-Dho, only two words are written inside. Two sentences written inside, nothing more. You read such a big Bible; it takes you two years perhaps. But the essence is only two words, Vākya, that's all. Char Ved, many, many Vedas. It will take you many lives to read the wisdom and everything. All this comes from the Vedas. Char Ved, chai śāstra, six philosophies. Baat likhī do, they have written two things. If you give someone pleasure, if you support someone, if you help someone, if you understand someone, sukha. Because there is no word translation for sukha in English also when you go to the... Our beautiful this hotel, this what you call the Global Inn, what? Globin, Globolin. She is such a nice lady. She doesn't feel like the owner of the hotel, but she feels honored. You are a guest there, and she is kind to everybody. Wo sukh de rahī hai. If you need warm water, a heater, this, that, she gives it immediately. That's called sukha. Sukh diyā sukha hotā hai. If you give the sukha, if you give love, happiness, understanding, support, kindness, then you get back. If you give trouble, then you will also be in trouble. She will say, "No, I don't want to go to the hotel." Electricity too much. No, I don't want to give this. No, this, not this. "You are not good, not." Whole night she comes, "Why you make so much noise? Why are you snoring? Oh, my God." Morning, she is neither happy, nor will she be. This is the essence of everything. So, some scriptures used to tell, some worshipped the Prophet; by leaving all the scriptures, he connected his mind to Īśvara. He put my consciousness into God, into Īśvara, one. He connected his mind to Īśvara. Only that Brahma. Oṁ so’haṁ, so’haṁ,... so’haṁ. Ishwar mein, my mind is constantly going there. Constantly going there, the moha like a mother's moha. The cow gave one little cow. She is grazing, but when somebody comes near the cow, she looks. When someone takes a cow into a warm room, she is searching, "Where is that cow?" That's a moha, love. Love becomes moha. Moha creates jealousy, hate, anger, and breaks friendships. Love unites happiness, joy, and freedom. Moha kā bandh na toṛ diyā. Koi dun. I cannot translate, I can't read this because yahāṁ likā huā hai. So, everything is, sorry, it is very wrong written. The text I cannot translate, but it is not a dhurat. Dhurad means word is written, Dhurad means a terrible person, a bandit. It should be dundat. So anyhow, my dear, you will say, "Swāmījī is again in the webcast a little bit angry," but words are not correct words. Therefore, Śivanandjī Mahārāj said of Mahāprabhujī. Disciple Swami Sivanandji from Chhoti Khattu, the word should be, "Holy Guruji said, 'Like a pearl goes through a silk thread very clearly.'" And so Shivanandjī Mahārāj said, "Understand the word śabda. Śabda you sing, 'A boy, Madhuram śabda sanāyī māri jāṭ ramari heli.'" You find it one moment, śabda, śabda, sanāyī mārī jāt, ramarī helī. Shabda-sandeemārijā Tāramārihīlī Oranṇavemāridāī Daimārihīlī Oranṇavemāridāī Daimārihīlī Shabda-sandeemārijā Tāramārahīlī Shabda-sandeemārijā Śabdose Denā Rām Śabdose Lenaa he śabdose denaa, Rāma śabdose lenaa he. Śabd usse karaniye bāt, bāt mari hāli, śabd usse karaniye bāt, bāt mari hāli, śabd usse nahī̃ mari jāt, Rām mari hāli, śabd usse nahī̃ mari jāt, Rām mari hāli. Oor nāve māre dāī, dāī mārī heli. Śab rasanē mārī dāt, Rām mārī heli. Śabdo se suje Rām, śabdo se buje. Śabd se cāle māre sāth, sāth manī heli. Śabd sānē mārī jāt, Rām manī heli. Ora nāve mare dāī, dāī marie lī, Ora nāve mare dāī, dāī marie lī, Śabadasanadei marie jā, marie lī, Śabadasanadei marie jā,... marie lī. Śabduse pavhe sab jñāna kya, mani heli śabdasa nahi māri jā. Darā mani heli śabdasa nahi māri jā. O rāvē mārēdā śabdā sāni mārēdā, rā mārēdī śabdā sāni mārēdā. Mārā hēvī śabdose yogīrā. Śabdose jugati, śabdose yogīrā. Śabdose sej udar udar marieli. Śabdose sej udar udar marieli. Śabdase ne’i mari jāta ramarieli. Śabdase ne’i mari jāta ramarieli. Śabda rasanī mā rī jā tā rā mā rī helī Purāṇave mare dāyī dāyī māriyelī Purāṇave mare dāyī dāyī māriyelī Sanai mā rī jā Śabda sanai mā rī jā Tāraṁ māriyelī Śabduse Brahma Rāṁ Śabduse Māyāre Śabduse Brahma Rāṁ Śabdose māyā, śabdose śivānanda pār pār. Mari heli śabdose śivānanda pār pār. Mari heli śabdose nahī̃ mari jātā, rā mari heli. God's name is Mahādari, God's name is Mahādari. God's name is Mahādari, God's name is Mahādari. Those who understand my words, they are my beloved. They are mine. The rest, those who don't understand me. They are not my, that śabda, that nāda, that word which we spoke five days ago. So words can make you happy, words can make you unhappy. So moha, mohaka bandhana, one of the most terrible, painful sufferings is the bondage of attachment. And the whole mankind is suffering from this attachment, not only person to person, I mean, but to many things. The love of the parents, children, friends, that's love, that's not attachment. Attachment is there when you begin to suffer and create doubt, anger, and jealousy. That is the purpose of the attachment: to destroy you. You know, Yama and King Indra, they have a lot of messengers. How to present this Jīvātmā again, so that they don't come to this beautiful heaven, or whatever it's called, because the place is limited. So send them back, reject them. But those who come to satsaṅg, Brahmaloka is endless. Heaven is just a small tarot tree. When the heaven finishes, the naraka begins, the hell begins. But where the Brahmaloka is, it is neither heaven nor hell, but there is only one. Ānandoham Ānandoh Ānandam Brahmanandam Ānandoham Ānandoh Ānandam Brahmanandam Ānandoham Ānandoh Ānandam Brahmanam Ānandoham Ānandoham Ānandam Brahmanam Ānandoham Ānandoham. Ānandam Brahmaṇam Ānando’ham Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavānakī. Dear brothers and sisters, here and around the world, wish you all the best. And I will come to you again with the webcast tomorrow. The Nepal time is a holy time, Shiva time. And so, N for never ending, you know. P for permanent, A for amrit, and L for largeness, the large heart. He's the Nepal. Okay? Deep Nayan Bhagavān Kī Jai. Devīśvara Mahādeva Kī. Madhav Krishna Bhagwan. Satya Sanatana. Śaṅkar Bhagavān Kī. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ.