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Part 1: The Value of Human Life and the Mission of Spiritual Practice There are some people who cannot sleep unless they create a problem. We call them troublemakers. And if there are no people to trouble, they turn to the mind, and the mind then makes its own troubles. So, Om Śānti, Śānti, Śānti. Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavānkī, Deveśwar Mahādevkī, Mādhav Kṛṣṇa Bhagavānkī. Good evening, dear brothers and sisters. Good evening to all the international bhaktas around the world who are with us now through the webcast. I wish you again a blessing on the occasion of Janmāṣṭamī, the divine day of the incarnation of God Kṛṣṇa. Yesterday we spoke a lot about Kṛṣṇa’s life. We saw in yesterday’s video how Kṛṣṇa was incarnating and how many terrible things happened before. And this morning, I explained to you what Kṛṣṇa means. Many of you were not there, perhaps. First of all, I also wish you a happy birthday, good health, harmony, happiness, and a long life. God bless you, your family, and your spiritual development. We are here for the International Kriyā Anuṣṭhān Retreat in the Republic of Hungary, a beautiful place, Vape. This is already our second program going on, and there are different kinds of programs—from higher techniques, what we call Kriyā Anuṣṭhāna, Til Mantra Anuṣṭhāna, to general yoga programs, as well as programs for the juniors. As I told you yesterday, this evening I have to leave for India, and then I will be going to America. But at the same time, I am very happy to announce and welcome our dear brother, Dr. Gulābjī Koṭārī. We welcome him. These flowers, this one, all, as it is. Yes, thank you. Gulābjī, most welcome. Many of you know Dr. Gulābjī Koṭārī, because for the last few years, out of his very busy schedule, he takes time and comes to us here in Vāpe and blesses us with his divine wisdom. We know his past ancestors, and we also know his family and the future new generation which is coming. Gulābjī has written many beautiful books. Also, there is a book on cakras and kuṇḍalinīs. Also, the series of books on the mind, or manas. Many of you know that book because it is also available in English. Dr. Gulabjī is an internationally known, respected personality, and wherever he comes, he gives very practical talks which we can use in our everyday life. That is something beautiful, because to give many lectures, we can hear also in a lecture—on the radio and seen on the television—but there are very few who give us practical instructions in life about what we can do. Too much intellect can also confuse us. It is very important to have the balance of the heart and the balance of the brain. If we cannot coordinate both together, then it can happen that some problems arise or we make some mistakes. Gulābjī’s love towards us is so great. Whenever we go to India, he comes to visit us in Jaipur Ashram, Kailash Ashram, Jadan, I mean, and also in Vienna and here. Also, he is a regular host of our International World Peace Summit, wherever we are—in Ljubljana, Croatia, Bratislava, and in many other countries. So, he is a great supporter of Yoga in Daily Life, and because his nature is to give good advice for everyday life, he is a pillar of Yoga in Daily Life. So Gulābjī is also a pillar of Yoga in Daily Life, and I am happy for you all that he will be here. Unfortunately, only three days, then he also has other obligations. He wanted to cancel his program when he heard that I would not be here and he had some other programs. But I asked him if he could still come and be with us and guide all bhaktas in my absence. So he arrived this morning, and we are very happy and looking forward to having inspirational thoughts and valuable suggestions for the upliftment of our consciousness, for the development of consciousness and our personalities, and to awaken the hidden talents within ourselves. So, we welcome once more Gulābjī. Thank you. And Gulābjī, you will feel at home, as always. So, and you will take care of him, okay? I told all the people who look after his coffee, tea, and eating—this time, fortunately, he is not on a diet. So it will not be very hard. But last year, when I put him on the diet, it did him good. So about this, we will talk next time when we meet. That is why maybe he will have a program only for three days, because he thought if he came for a longer time, Swāmījī would put him on a diet again. But his whole family was very happy, and he himself was very happy. You see, in this social life, where you have so many social obligations, Śrī Śrī... We are all here to practice. Tons of theory is nothing compared to a gram of practice. Maharishi Patañjali writes in his Patañjali Yoga Sūtra, "The practitioner, sādhak, or aspirant should have devotion to his or her sādhanā techniques." Like you have devotion to God, in the same way you should have devotion to your sādhanā; then you will be successful. Some people, after a few days of practice, or months, or years, think, "Oh God, I must practice āsanas now. I have to do prāṇāyāms. I have no time." The whole day you are unhappy, thinking, "Well, I did not practice. What should I do?" Ah, it does not matter. Next time I will do it again. So it seems that is a burden for you. And then it is not good, because that means you will not be successful. It is a blessing for you. It is the best time of your life when you can do your sādhanā and think of God, repeat your mantra, or think of your ātmā and ask, "From where do I come? What is the purpose of my life? And where will I go? What am I doing?" I told you in past lectures to know these few points every day, to repeat or become aware of these few points. First, I am a human. Just when we think that I am a human, it awakens human consciousness. But it does not mean that we discriminate against other creatures. Just that I am human. Now, if we do something wrong and you become aware that I am a human, it will be protection for you. You will not do it, because humans cannot do this. It is already a great help. Then, what does it mean for me to be a human? That is something great. I remember one story, a very small one, not a long story, because I have to go; otherwise, I could make it long. One of our disciples told Swamiji, "On the day I was married, after the wedding ceremony, I came home and sat like this on the big sofa in my living room. And I said, 'I am now the man, because I am married.' After exactly 13 years, he was sitting on the same sofa, looking out the window, and said, 'How stupid I was that I am married.'" Those are his words, he told me. Well, when you get a child, you know what it means to be a father, what it means to be a mother. So, it reminds us of our obligations. So, what does it mean for me to be a human? I am a human. What does it mean for me to be a human? And then, the third point: what makes me human? Khānā, Pīnā, Bhoganā, Paśubhi, Param, Sujan—eating, sleeping, drinking, and creating children. Animals are also very expert. O man, if you are doing only that much, then what is the difference? So, what makes me human? The human qualities. The human qualities, and those human qualities you will come to know through your practice, through the guidance, the lectures, satsaṅg. And this week you will also have many beautiful lectures, mostly answers. I think you should prepare your questions, because, let us say, I know Gulābjī will talk about what your heart is speaking, but I can tell that we are talking about tomatoes, but you want to have the cherries. So, what is the use of talking about tomatoes? So, you shall ask the questions, and Gulābjī will be very happy to answer you with examples, very practical, what to do. Of course, there are many questions. My computer is out of order. Can you tell Gulābjī what the problem with this is? Do not ask this question, you know. But the question is: what is involved with the human qualities, human life, and what it means to be human? Then, how do we awaken those hidden qualities which make us human? Which techniques? What kind of tradition? What kind of thoughts? What kind of relations? Now, Gulābjī, I was in America, and I had an interview in a newspaper, and they asked me, "What do you say, Swāmījī? Nowadays, people ask, 'Why should I be good, nice to others? Why should I be nice to others?'" They say we should be nice to others, good to others, kind to others. Why should I be kind? Why should I be nice? So you see how far humans have come already. So we shall create a spiritual society with free thinking, tolerance for all religions, all incarnations, all cultures, all nations, all traditions, and awaken the spiritual consciousness to save this planet and save humanity. If humans are saved, then other creatures will also be saved. So when we know the human qualities, then we will know what is the value of human life. And when we know the value of human life, then we will understand what human rights mean. Otherwise, human rights are already abused. So we have to understand the human values. Then we will understand what my life means, and then we understand what time means. Last year we were sitting under the trees and having a lecture, and Gulābjī said in his speech, "To lose the time, not respecting time, is a big sin—not only a big mistake, but it is a big sin if you do not value the time. If you do not utilize time properly, it will be wasted." But we can only do this when we know what the human qualities mean and how to awaken them. Very important, without thinking narrow, on a wide scale. Then, finally, comes the last point: what should we think? What is the mission of my life as a human—not as a businessman, not as a father, not as a child? What is the purpose of human life? Where am I going? What is my mission? And that means, first, be a protector. Protect all the life which God created on this planet. Human, you are different from animals, and therefore you can understand and protect. Sevā. Sevā dharma is the highest dharma. Sevā means help. Be a supporter. Be kind. And then, the prime mission of human life is to realize God or to know thyself, ātmā jñāna. And so we are all here having our practice, all times divided, and we are doing more practices here. And I wish you many divine experiences and divine satsaṅg, as Navdabhakti, as we spoke. And in Navdabhakti, the Nārada Sūtras, according to Nārada, the first is called satsaṅg. And so when it is spoken about truth, about life, it does not matter who is speaking, it is satsaṅg. Part 2: The Unbroken Flow of Life Be with the truth, and with the Navadhā Bhakti, it is very important to observe the Saptabhūmikā, the seven levels. According to Vedānta or Indian spirituality, it is Saptabhūmikā, the seven levels up to the Turīya Avasthā. That we shall think over, realize, and practice. I am looking forward to seeing you again. In Zagreb, at the beginning of October, we will have a very big satsaṅg, a one-day conference on the occasion of Gāndhījī’s birthday, the 2nd of October. And Gulābjī, you have already received an invitation for the second of October. If you can manage to come to Zagreb, please do, we will be very happy to see you. So, in this way, I pray to Mahāprabhujī to bless you, guide you, and protect you under the shelter of the Gurudev. We are all protected, and we practice and wish you all the best. And with this, I would like to give the floor to Gulābjī, if you would say some words. So, from my side, all the best. Om Śānti, Śānti, Śānti. According to European time, on the 30th of September, around 2:30 here, between 2:30 and 3:30, will be our prayers for Swāmī Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar Nirañjanānandajī, Puṣpāñjali. A great personality again won this. Thank you. Gulābjī, the floor is yours. With Swamiji’s permission and blessings, good evening, everybody. We are involved in Krishna’s birthday celebrations. Lord Krishna says in the Gītā, "Nāmeva Aṁśay Jīvaloke," I live in every heart. Does that mean something? Can we understand this in our life? This is very important. Then we know what is the value of human life, what I am, and what strengths and capacities I carry within me. We see a tree outside. Then we see some flowers on that tree. We see some fruits on that tree. How do we look at the tree? This is how we can translate and look at our own life. How is this tree standing? The roots are in the ground, in the darkness. We can’t see the roots. We see only the body of the tree. How is this whole weight being carried? Who is carrying this weight? What is the purpose? What is the purpose of the existence of the tree? Suppose it’s a mango tree. We have a mango seed. We put that seed in the ground. But can we see the whole tree inside that seed? I think most of us can imagine what type of mangoes that tree will bring to us. It is difficult to see that tree, those fruits, and that seed. I can’t see. I can’t see those seeds. I can’t see the human organs in any human seed. But the purpose of the seed is not to create the tree, not to create the flowers and leaves, but to create new seeds. That means the first purpose of this creation is to create and further evolve this universe. This means the purpose of that seed is not over until the new seeds have come up. That purpose will be flowing through the tree, through all the branches, through all the leaves, through all the flowers, until we get new seeds from the tree. And that energy, that purpose is responsible for this tree which is before us. Can we see that purpose somewhere in our lives? From where does this purpose come? If there is no purpose of the seed, because the seed is lost—the day there is sprouting, the seed is lost, its life. To create a new life, the seed has sacrificed its own life, but the purpose is not lost. Likewise, let us find out what was the energy in the seed which we had planted. That energy came from the past seed, from the tree, from where we got that mango. That means this energy is flowing from one seed to another, and that energy is responsible for the life of the tree. It comes from seed to seed to seed, and if you look back in the same order, you will reach the first seed of the universe, whose energy is flowing from seed to seed to seed in all the seeds of this universe. And then you will find that the same energy is living in all of us, and it will further continue to live in all the generations to come. So, I mean, let us meditate on this question honestly, and we definitely will reach a good answer for ourselves, for our own lives. If we do not understand this particular question, that the same energy is responsible for all of us, what is going to happen? My name is Gulab, but I don’t know who has given me this name. For a hundred years, I will be using this name: "I am Gulab, I am Gulab," but I don’t know who has given me this name. I have not given it, I have not decided that this is my name. Somebody has said, "This is your brother." For a hundred years, I will be calling him my brother. I have not decided. I don’t know what the meaning of brother is. Someone has put these words in my mind. Somebody has said, "I am Hindu or Muslim or whatever the religion I have." And I started believing, I started saying, I started living accordingly. Then, somebody else is running my life. I am not running my life at all. All the words are being put either through books, through parents, or through some means or media, or whatever you call it. I get all the information from outside, and I use that information as my own. Whereas, no information belongs to me. All my true information will come from inside, which I am carrying from life to life to life. That means, how will I ever reach the source where I want to reach? All my meditation will not take me there unless I throw those things out, because they do not belong to me. I am being carried away every day in all my actions by all that information. From outside, whether it is information or whether it is knowledge, both these things come from outside. Only the wisdom will come from inside, which my soul is carrying with it. Wisdom is not found outside in any manner unless you have the right guru. But that relationship is further very difficult to achieve, so that we can become part and parcel of each other, so that we can start representing each other. We look like mirror images of each other. That stage is really difficult. But this beginning is here. The first thing I must realize is that I must start living with my own source of wisdom. Not from the outer source, because then I have never known myself, never, in the hundred years of life, because I am living, my life is based on information given by others. First thing, I must be the master of my life; that means I must bring out what is inside me, what I am carrying from life to life. And in these areas, otherwise, my life is just false. Someone has taught me not to tell a lie before the Guru. What will I do? I can’t speak the truth, I know it. Somebody will say, "Don’t steal anything, don’t abuse somebody." There are many don’ts in life, and I know I can’t follow all the don’ts. So every day, my routine will carry hundreds of lies from morning to evening. What are all these lies? These are all the masks on my face, one over the other, one over the other. And I will continue this piling up of all the masks of these lies. When you have so many piles, how will you know yourself? How will you reach your own soul? You cannot. And sometimes you may forget what your real face is, because you remember only the false face; you show everybody the false face. So, I think in today’s celebration, we must at least have this determination: that first, I’ll understand myself and, as Swamījī said, the value of my life and the purpose of my life. Because nobody wants to die, whether he is poor, whether he is sick, or whether he is old. But let us ask this question to ourselves: why do I want to live? Is there any purpose? If there is no answer, then there is no difference between living and dying. When Kṛṣṇa is living in every heart, everybody has equal potential to explore those energies, to develop on those energies, and to show something. What Krishna showed to the world, he had one great, great quality. He was always smiling. Throughout his life, right from birth to his death, he was always smiling under all circumstances. He never had a gloomy face. And it comes when you have the heart to offer to others. All those who believe in giving will always be smiling. All those who believe in taking will always have gloomy faces. They will never smile. They will never be happy. So there is only one route to happiness, which is to give. Give your smile. If you can’t give anything else, it should be full of love, full of affection, full of well-being. And I can guarantee, next year when you come to this seminar, this course, almost all of you will be smiling. Thank you, and wish you all the best. Aur Badan Bole Bol, Rahiman Hīrā Kab Kahe, Lāk Hamārā Mūl. The great one will never speak about one’s greatness. Like a diamond will never say that I am a diamond, but we say this is a diamond and valuable. Thank you, Gulābjī. It was wonderful, beautiful, a very, very clear answer. But in the 50th chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, Kṛṣṇa said, "Mame vāso jīva loke jīva bhūta sanātana." And so Kṛṣṇa is that essence, that energy which is in the seed and continuing again. But the seed has to die. Mahāprabhujī said, "Jīvatahī murdasam reve nay seed nahī pīr." And in the Bible it is said, you have to die to live. Well, we got very nice prasāda from India. Indian Māsi-pān and Gulāb-jī were carrying so much, and I said, "Everyone should receive this prasāda." So I would ask some people to come who are strong and can move quickly. I think young children are the quickest ones. Come, girls, divide this half and half and give it to someone. You divide this half into both. Quickly do it; you are too slow. Oh, like this dvijayī, like that. So, see, give two persons to go. You come, you get. Oh, Anubhavī, come. Give someone to pass quickly, and this you take. Okay, Cidānandjī. Jai Prakash, you are a quick boy, you have long legs. Go, give it quickly. Begin from the backside. You didn’t give it to Gulābjī? Prasad, you make a nice photo together. We will, Rādhā, you will send the news welcoming Gulābījī and arriving in Hungary. And his words about "Mame Vaśo Jīva Loke." You could follow the picture, you know. You could follow the picture from one seed to the mango and tell back, they like cherry. So next time we can speak about cherry. Devanā Satguru Nāmakā Mastāhedī. This will go in my car. Who didn’t get prasāda? Everyone got it. Who didn’t get it? Who didn’t get one should come here. Okay, go quickly. Your mother, sister. You take also one piece. Jayaprakāś, something left? All you want? Okay. Śrīdharānī didn’t get it? Anumanpurī, you got it? You see, we got enough. And if someone didn’t get any, just break it and give it to others. So now you can eat. So, I wish you a very good dinner, a very good time, all the best, have a good rest, and see you again. Hari Om.