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Part 1: A Satsaṅg on Tree Planting and Spiritual Stories On Thursday, we had a beautiful Skype satsaṅg with Swāmījī, and its content was the meaning of the bhajan "Therajana Mamarana." Let's sing it together. I think it's done. It will not be so long; otherwise, we will work more on the microphone. Hari Om, everybody. I would like to remind everyone that we still have one duty ahead, which Swāmījī gave us on Guru Pūrṇimā. He suggested that everyone should make a saṅkalpa to plant at least eleven trees. Swāmī Jasrājpurījī, when he arrived, also spoke about this briefly in the beginning. I remember that in some cities, activities have already started, especially contacting some government institutions where it is good to do this. Swāmījī basically completely left it to us. You could plant the trees in your own garden, but I think it would be most effective if we do something collectively—at least country-wise or city-wise, not just individually, with some trees here and some trees there. When we do it more as a collective action, it can also become more public. Then we have the chance that it attracts public awareness, and it can become more like a snowball system, where many other people say, "That’s a good idea, let me join in." That was a point of the story Swāmī Jasrāj told about how from one tree came, in the end, now already half a billion. I mentioned this already in the beginning of July when we had the Guru Pūrṇimā week here and we got to know about this Saṅkalpa. Then I spoke with one boy from Prague who is in an environmental organization. He said, "We have a meeting in two weeks, and I will bring it to the meeting and ask them if they have any suggestions." I gave him my email, but unfortunately he never got back to me. So I would like to ask here now, before everyone goes home, is there someone who has some ideas or some contacts, or is in some organization that could take over and make suggestions about where and how to do that? I would like to ask if there is anyone among us who would have any contacts for any organization or works in any organization that could arrange this, that could advise us what and how. Yes? Good. Hari Om, there are more possibilities for how to fulfill this saṅkalpa. There is one chance; it is not for every person, but for a few people. We will plant many trees here in the park, so there is a chance to have your own tree here in the park. The other possibility: we were already sending some email communications throughout the country, and we had some very beautiful ideas. But I wouldn’t mention them yet because they are not complete; they are not polished. So I think in this phase, let us consider it, let us think about it, and then we put the ideas together, and then we will start acting. Thank you. I work at a school. Actually, I got it in Chakra Soudana yesterday. I’m a teacher. I think I know. I’m not sure. I got the idea that I would make it at school. We are already planting trees, but usually every year we plant one tree or two trees on Peace Day, on the 21st. This is usually the first meeting with the parents and the students. I usually organize it, and this year I was thinking that maybe I should put an idea a little bit broader: that every class would plant a tree, and that at the first meeting, when all the parents are there, this idea would be presented to them. So every house would plant a tree, every member, or at least one tree in a house. We have 495 students. Because I’m always in connection with the local TV, I would put it on the local TV and the newspapers in the nearest town, to Maribor in Slovenia. Because all of us instructors of Yoga in Daily Life are mainly teachers—really, at least 15—we would spread this idea to other schools where we teach. Okay, that’s it. Where would we plant them? Anywhere. We have a big school, and it’s quite empty around, and we would put them around the classes, but the rest, wherever: by the river, in the garden, at your grandma’s, wherever. Maybe you can also make it a competition, you know? The kids would like to draw them or tell about it, or you can make it in a class: "How many trees did you plant?" or something like that. So, if you... Well, you don’t have to be a teacher. You can be a parent. You can suggest this idea to the class teacher, or to the headmistress or headmaster. That’s it. Thank you. On the day of Guru Pūrṇimā, when Swāmījī’s message arrived in the ashram, we immediately decided that we would plant trees together. As Swāmījī said, not only the teachers, but all practitioners, and I also make it clear that others can also be involved. So when we heard Guru Pūrṇimā’s message from Swāmījī, we immediately agreed that we would arrange it together, that we would plant trees together. We try to expand it more, not only to disciples, but to other practitioners, to make it public. We have an agricultural engineer, and we would meet with his colleagues at a certain meeting. Because we have contacts with some agricultural engineers, we said that we will meet with them and discuss with them. We are planning to find a place where the trees would stay, so they won’t cut them off, and there are some tourist paths crossing this area also. We have found a certain cliff where we could place some writings. Yes, a table that this is part of Maheśvarānanda’s project. Many people know about this, so we have already started organizing the media. Before I came here to Strelka, the previous night—the Hungarians know which FM radio—I have already arranged a two-hour yoga show about everyday life. We are waiting for anyone to sit on this tree. Very clever. As Swami Gajānandjī said, it’s very important that it should be public, so I’ve organized some meetings with the media, and there was a radio program, but I’ve already announced in a long program that this project is running. And as Gajarāṇjī mentioned, that it should be public, that it should have publicity, so I’ve already announced this project to the media. I even had a long program on the radio, where I also talked about it and where I also announced it. Maybe another important thing is that in Europe, it is good to plant trees in autumn and in spring, but the spring is too far away. Swāmījī said that we should start doing it in October, so we have already started the TV, radio, and organization. We hope that we will be able to say more concrete things in the future. Spring is a little bit too far, so we would start around October, and we have already announced and organized with the media. Thank you for the possibilities for the webcast, because in Hungary all ashram people are watching this webcast. And thank you that I was able to say it also through webcast, because in Hungary, everyone in the ashram is watching us through webcast. Watch it. So, from all of you here to all of you in Hungary, Hari Om. OK, next. I’m waiting to hear some more stories from your guest here about Gurujī, sir. Elastic science. Elastic science. I think we have to wait a little bit more. Swāmījī, with this idea about the trees, when he said that at least eleven trees should be planted by everybody, wherever he wants, he made a snowball and threw it downhill. So it’s nice to see how the idea is developing. I would like to add a little bit to this bowl. I also have one small myšlenka (idea). Where will you plant these trees? You have so much forest already. Slovenia is covered more than 60% by the jungle, by the forest. Of course, it’s very good, but I have one idea. In Jadan, we have no forest, and I heard that Swāmījī said that I took a saṅkalpa that I will plant 1,008 trees myself, yes. So I will do it. Maybe, maybe, it’s just an idea. Maybe you can help us to plant more trees in Jadan or the nearby area. You see, in that area where Jadan is located, only 100 years back, there were huge forests. The people cut them because they needed the land for agriculture. No forest, no rain. No underground water. So if things develop as they are developing, in a few years people will have to pack their luggage and go somewhere else. The roots of the trees can get the water; they can survive for next year. So it is just an idea, and maybe somebody, some organizers, can work on that as an idea. It can be accepted or not. The trees in Jadan are dying. I will tell you why. It’s nice. It will rain. It will rain, of course it will rain. We have had no rain up to now in Jadan. But last year it was also raining in September, so we still hope that some rain will come. But if not this year, then next year? And if not this year, then next year. And we have ashrams in Kailash and in other areas. There are other areas where you can plant the trees. So it’s enough for this topic from my side, now to Gurujī. I found my shoes. Okay, so with Gurujī we were in the Himalayas, and after that nice story with the mango tree, many, many, many more things happened. In that ashram, the mehenjī, or the head of the ashram, was a very nice swāmī. He was organizing a conference about education and the ladies. So one day Gurujī said, "Yogeś, go and speak at that conference." My knowledge about English was ahoj, jak se máš, dobre, nedozol. Byla angličtina. Of course I’m going. So the subject was the Western culture and the education of the women. And I was standing there on the podium, talking and talking, and I could not believe what I was listening to. I was there, I was listening to what I was talking about. So it ended, and I came to Gurujī, and Gurujī said, "No, how is it when Mahāprabhujī is talking?" So it was great, so we went further. One day Gurujī said, "Okay, let us go to Badrināth." Gurujī says, "Let’s go to Badrīnāth." And as I said yesterday, Gurujī likes cars, he likes to play with them. And somewhere along the way, Gurujī said, "Stop the car," so we stopped, and Gurujī says, "This is the valley of God. Alak Purījī and Dev Purījī are." Tady jsou Alak Purījī and Dev Purījī. And he had a short prayer, and then we went to Badrinath. I believe that he had the darśana of all the great saints he wanted to have. Of course, I was very peacefully sleeping at that time. It was over the night. The next day, he sent me for the darśana in the temple, and then we went back. But when I started the car, there were no brakes. The brake pedal just fell down, and I was thinking, what to do? Should I say this to Gurujī? I said, "No." So I was just driving in first gear slowly. And Gurujī says to me a few times, he asks me, "Why are you driving so slow?" So it was quite scary without a brake on the road like this, going down. You know, there is a very narrow road, and then you have a rock, and then you look down and look and look, and somewhere down very far, far, you see the river. We came to one village, and there was a mechanic. I requested the mechanic to see the brakes, and he checked and repaired them. But I also saw that the diesel is leaking where the pipe was going to the diesel pump for the engine. So I requested the mechanic just to tighten the screw a little bit. You know, one has to be very careful with mechanics in India. You have to watch very carefully what they are doing. So I was like an eagle there, you know, looking at what he was doing. But at that moment, somebody came and he started to talk to me. And when I try to be short, but when I look back, the mechanic already opened the screw and put in something new, like a visor, like a dychtung (seal), and put the screw back, but not in the right way, but at an angle. So he was destroying the thread of the screw. So I said, "Stop, stop... stop." Of course, he stopped, but already half of the thread was destroyed, the screw. He said, "But it’s leaking more than before." He said, "Oh, no problem, you will go." So I was driving, and it was leaking and leaking and leaking behind. So we came to another village, and there was an āśram of Swami Śivānanda. So Gurujī said, "Okay, Yogesh, I will live in the ashram, I will sleep in the ashram, and you go and repair the car." So the mechanic said the only way to repair this car is to put special components, a special kit around it, around that complete screw. But you need to wait 24 hours for this to dry. So he did, and then we were driving further. And we came quite near Gangotri. When one bus overtook us, the car was going slower and slower. So in the end, the boys who were with him were pushing the car. And I was driving in first, and Gurujī was sitting on the table. Anyhow, the people from the bus were shouting, "Your diesel is leaking, your diesel is leaking!" So I stopped, and I saw a huge track of the diesel behind. So, obviously, that screw, that kit did not work. So I opened the bonnet, and I saw that the screws were completely destroyed, completely destroyed. Maybe out of 20 threads, only 5 remained, and the diesel was leaking very much. So I said, "Gurujī, it’s like this: the only option is that I try to tighten this screw a little bit more and again put the kit, and this will take one day for that kit to dry." So Gurujī said, "Okay, I will go to Gangotrī by walk, or I will stop some bus later, and you come tomorrow." So I repaired this, and I was waiting in the car doing mala. And then, half an hour later, one boy came running back. When Gurujī left, she said, "Gurujī is calling you, Gurujī is calling you, come quickly with the car." My God. If I start the car, they will come nowhere because this will immediately pump. Will this leak? It is not possible to drive this car, but Gurujī Vākya is Gurujī Vākya, so what to do? I had no problem, so I just started the car and we went. But you know, when one is in trouble, then one really remembers God. And you know, when someone is in need, they really think of God. And I asked, "Oh Mahāprabhujī, oh Mahāprabhujī,... Please, please, let this car drive to the mechanic. Please, only so much. It’s not for me, it’s for Gurujī, how he will come down. We are 300 kilometers from the first mechanic. In the mountains, there is nothing on which we can rest." I was really praying, and the car was going. And we came to Gurujī. Gurujī said, "And so, chalo, we went to Gangotri." And the next morning, back. And that screw was skipping. We lost, on the way, we lost the silencer. We had a fire in the car. The steering was not working. Suddenly, I was driving like this; the car was going like this. But that screw was skipping, so we came to Haridwar. And Gurujī said, "Let us go. I have one disciple. Let us go to his hotel." After half an hour, he said, "Oh, here is not good, let us go to the other ashram." We went to the second ashram. After half an hour, he said, "Oh, here is not good. Let us go to the third ashram." We came to the third ashram, he said, "Okay, here is good." So, go to the mechanic now and repair the car. I went to the mechanic 50 meters before that screw burst. I stopped to work. So we were pushing the car to the mechanic. Gurujī changed the place of staying in Haridwar three times in one day. And that is the next story. Should I tell you? Do you have time? Yes. Okay. Before I came to Gurujī, to Jhadan that year, I was in Nepal. Because my visa was expired at that time, we tried to get visas in Nepal, Sri Lanka, or Pakistan. So I said, yes, you’re going to go to Nepal and renew the visa, get the visa, a one-year study visa. And I asked, "How long should I stay there?" He said, "Yes, two months, three months, and so far as you will get a visa." Good holidays. So I applied for the visa, and then immediately I went to the Himalaya, walking, trekking towards the Mount Everest base camp. Where the ego-trained and ego-supported line can go, except to the Mount Everest base camp. So I was walking three weeks up and down, and up and down, and up and down. And one day it came to my mind, I had to go back to Kathmandu, I had to go, I had to go. I thought, I have to go back to Kathmandu. I have to go there. And it was just before I had to get to the base camp. And that wish, that thought was so strong that I ran back and ran. So I came to Kathmandu and to one hotel where I was living before. The price was five Nepali rupees, which means two and a half Indian rupees. It was a good price, and on the door was written, "I’m here. I just came. Please reach me at this address." And the name. That was that boy whom Gurujī was waiting for so much, that he would go with him to the Himalayas. We were talking yesterday, and I said, "Okay, I will go there to reach him." But that moment, I got so sick. I got dysentery, and I don’t know what, I was really sick. And somehow, I managed to reach him, and he was the specialist for these sicknesses from the equatorial area. So he immediately treated me, and then we were together a few days. He asked me, "How long are you waiting here?" I said, I’m here already nearly one month, more than one month. And I would like to go back. He said, "Oh, I will not wait so long. I will just hide my passport, and I will announce that I lost my passport, and they will immediately give me a new passport, and with a new passport, I will go to India." So the plan was good, at least what he thought. So I went to get my visa to the embassy after a few days, and of course there was no answer. They said to get a visa will take at least one month; we had to send an inquiry to your country, and maybe you will get a transit visa to go back through India to your country. And all this will take at least three weeks more. And I had enough of Nepal and Kathmandu. And I would say, "Oh, Mahāprabhujī, oh, Gurujī, I would like so much to come to Jādam. Gurujī, please, I would like to go to Jādam." It was very strong again. I was sitting there, and at that moment, one person came and said, "If anyone has any request or any need, come with me." And I was immediately behind him. So we came to his office, and he was the first secretary of the embassy. And I told him that I would like to go to India, that I applied, but there is no answer, and so on and so on. He said, "I cannot give you a one-year visa, but I can give you a six-month visa." Of course, I took it with both hands, and that afternoon I was already sitting on the train. And that boy was applying for a new visa to come to India. So it was one month after that we were in Haridwar. And it happened that just as they saw how he came from Nepal to India, because it took him more than one month. He did not get it. He got a new passport, but it was a lot of trouble, and he did not get a long-term visa as he was hoping. He got a transit visa, actually only a three-week visa. When he came to Haridwar, he phoned the āśram, and they told him that Gurujī was in Haridwar and gave him the address of the first hotel. So he rushed to the rickshaw to find us, and in that moment he forgot the passport, the air ticket, the flight ticket, and all the money, and everything had gone back. He forgot, in that booth, where he was honing. When he came to Gangotri, rain started and a complete mountain fell down and blocked the river and the road and everything. And after he got no money, he got maybe 500 rupees with him. The prices jump up ten times. So he was somehow rescued by the army. The army fed him, and then in the end they pulled him out by a helicopter out of the valley. I know why I’m saying this: karma is following us, and if we are practicing yoga, if you are practicing this divine path, we have at least followed the basic principles of honesty and honor, or whatever. We should be honest. That boy was extremely clever, intelligent. But he wanted to take shortcuts, and he got very great teaching. So, like this was with Gurujī. There were many, many more things. I don’t remember them all. Swāmījī is teaching differently, but the result is actually the same. Gurujī was very direct with his disciples, as he was direct in teaching. He was direct also in attracting the disciples, showing to them their capacity, divine powers. Swāmījī is much more careful in all ways. Once, yesterday I also told that sometimes teaching seems like it’s going like a belt in a factory, just saying, "Now it is this subject. All disciples will have to experience this and this. They will have to have this and this experience." Once it happened that I was half here; I’m not sleeping when I’m driving, I simply cannot sleep. But it was time when I sat behind the steering wheel, and when I reached the gate of the ashram, I started to sleep. It was so hard to drive. Once Swāmījī sent me to Nepal just to show his brother, Bikaramjī āśram. He said Bikaramjī would like to see how the progress in Nepal is. Part 2: A Test of Faith: Building Jadan and the Guru's Play Go there and bring him back. It was evening, around 8 o'clock. That meant a three-hour drive to Nepal and three hours back—six hours of driving. From that entire drive, I remember only one curve where I nearly crashed. For all the rest, I was just sleeping. We were coming back. Somehow, it was morning, about 6 a.m., and I had already woken up. A blue cow was standing there—it's called a blue cow, a wild animal, something between a cow and a horse. I started to brake, and just as I nearly stopped, the cow jumped. It crashed into the windscreen and broke it. I cleaned off what remained and went to the ashram. Samjī said, "Oh, what happened?" I told him something happened to you. No, he was so happy, he was so happy. He immediately sent me to Sojat with that broken car to take some people to the bus. When I got to Sojat, there was a road in the city with a curve. Because I had no windscreen, I could hear very well, so I heard the bus coming towards me. I stopped the car and wanted to reverse because there wasn't much space. At that moment, a bus without brakes came and crashed straight into the car. So I had an even more broken car. We tried to negotiate who would repair it and for how much, but in the end, nothing happened. I came back again with a more broken car. Swāmījī was waiting in front of the Bhakti Sāgar. He said, "Are you okay? Are you okay?" He was very happy. Swamiji works very differently, but he has divine powers. When I met Swamiji for the first time, it was 22 years ago. I had just come to classes, and after one month I heard there was a seminar like this one. I said, "Yes, why not? I'll go see." It was somewhere in Yugoslavia, in Croatia. I was standing on the hotel terrace, and people started talking: "Swāmījī is going for a walk, Swāmījī is going for a walk." I didn't know who Swamiji was; I hadn't seen him before. I was thinking, okay, they're going for a walk, and then what? I was standing with one boy on the hotel terrace, and then Swāmījī passed by with many, many people behind him. Please don't tell Swamiji what I'm talking about. I saw Swamiji—young, with black hair, not too thin. I thought, "This is a yogī? A yogi should be old and thin, with silver hair and a long white beard. And this, and all these sheep behind him." These were my thoughts. Swāmījī looked up and said nothing. But after 15 minutes, I was walking among the sheep, thinking, "How is this possible? I was just saying these are sheep, and now I'm one of them." But I was walking, and I was quite happy. We came to a children's playground and sat on the floor. Suddenly, I was sitting very close to you, Swamiji. How it happened, I don't know; I didn't want it. But then I received very nice prasāda, I can say. I was cooked from that moment on. I was cooked and baked and turned ten times. So when Swamiji said, "If somebody wants—is there somebody who wants a mantra?" I just ran there to get a mantra. Very soon we came to India; that same winter, I was already in India. We came to Jadan. Swamiji said, "Here I will make the ashram." It was like being shot with a sweet arrow to the heart. I had such a wish: "I would like to help build this ashram." A dangerous wish. I have now been in Jadan for 20 years because of that. We came back again. There was a seminar somewhere in Slovakia, and I saw Swāmījī looking at plans with some architects. There was Om Prakash from Brno, and I think Pavel Sklenár made the model of the Omāśram. I was looking there. I was not jealous, but I thought, "They are working, and I don't know anything about this." That day, during the walk, I went to Swāmījī. I said, "Swāmījī, please, I would like to go to Jādan." He said, "Very good, very good, just go." I asked him, "When should I go?" He said, "After one year. One year, one and a half years." I came back from that seminar and got a letter. I am an architect, and they wanted me to build a five-star hotel for them in Slovenia. It was an offer to build a five-star hotel. I contacted the person, and they wanted it. I had one small studio that we turned into a big hotel for them. Oh, Mahāprabhujī, thank you, thank you. This is Guru Kripa. In that same period, a few days later, the ambassador of Yugoslavia in Russia also wanted me to build a house for him. That was my biggest job until that time. I was calculating: with this money, I will live easily in India for my whole life, and so on. We started to work and got an advance. Then the phone rang. "Hello, Yogesh." "Yes, who is there?" "Swamiji speaking. You see, if you want, you can go to India immediately. But only if you want." The cluster of cars started to shake. All these ideas about a good life in India started to tremble. So I said, "Okay, I'll go to India." And what happened? The war in Yugoslavia started. The company from Switzerland withdrew. The ambassador lost his job. So everything just vanished into thin air. Whatever we are doing, we will always be tested. Swamiji is always doing two things: one is teaching, and then examination comes. As Swami Jasarāj Purījī nicely said, when the Āśramjī Bāpū, great son of India, told Jasarāj Purījī, "Keep the feet of Swamījī; he will try to kick you away, don't leave." Āśramjī said to Jasarāj Purījī, "Just hold on to Swāmījī, don't let go of him. Hold on to Swāmījī." All teaching is that first the masters will show their divine nature, and when they see that you understand a little bit, then they will do everything to push you away, to kick you away, so that you run away. Guruji was very direct. I saw Indian disciples who, when they saw Guruji, made praṇām somewhere on the road and then ran away on the side road. Guruji was just pressing and pressing, and so far as you manage, you manage, and then the next life will continue. Swamiji is doing the same, but a little bit more softly. So if we manage to hang on to his leg or his skirt—it doesn't matter, even on the hand, everywhere on Swāmījī—and he is kicking and doing everything to push you away, and we still keep holding on, then we are the kings. Then Swāmījī will do everything for us because we passed all exams. Bhakti yoga can be written, not in one book but in ten books, on how we built the Jadan Ashram. Jasrajjī just yesterday reminded me about the White House. I think it was rebuilt, or rebuilt. I don't know how to say it: "Build it, and on that, build it, and build it, and again build it, and again build it." I think seven or eight times, something like that. Sanjeev once said, "Yogesh, there is one hut, one small room for the generator near the well, where the White House is standing now. We need some rooms for the workers in the ashram. Can you make them?" "Of course, Swamiji." "But you should use only the material which remains from the Gurujī building," that building where the boys are sleeping now, the boys' home with four rooms. Swamiji went to Europe and then wrote a letter: "Can you please make four rooms on the other side of the well also?" Somehow he managed to come to the telephone in Pali, because years back mobiles were not available, no emails. I asked Swamiji, "Should these four rooms be on the same level or separate, because there is a height difference in the land?" He said, "No, no, just make it separate, as the land is, so follow the earth." When we came to the roof level, Swamiji said, "Yogesh, make everything one level." So we had to rebuild the foundation and lift the windows and the doors and go higher. Swamiji was happy. And then Swamiji was happy. He said, "Yogesh, so much material you wasted is lying around everywhere. What do you think about making one room between these four, and four rooms like a hall for storage? So much material is lying around. But, Yogesh, don't buy material. Everything must be made with this leftover material." So we made it. Then Swamiji suddenly got the idea that we should add one more floor to those four rooms. We were making stairs, and then he made up a hall. One day, a lady came from Serbia. She was an electrical engineer. We call her Lilia Struja. Struja means electricity. Gita David. When she came, there were Indian electricians installing the electricity. It was like a spider web, wires everywhere. The green wire was joined with the yellow wire, and then further with the red wire, and then came the brown wire. Nothing was working. When she came there, she said, "My God, my God, what is this? I never saw anything similar." Very soon, Swamiji decided to add one more floor. So we got a very terrible Russian-style building, narrow and high. And disaster. The foundation was very small, for a one-floor building. I nearly cry when I remember this. I nearly cry even now. It was a disaster. Like with the school: when we made it, Swamiji said, "Yogesh, make a school." We made a round shape and a square shape, a beautiful Western type, and Swamiji didn't like anything. He wanted a very simple Indian type of school. When we were building the school, Swamiji said, "How do you want it? Do it." We did it beautifully in a Western style, and Swamiji wanted a very simple Indian school. I had enough. I said, "Okay, Swāmījī, we'll make an Indian type of school." When it was done, it was horrible, that back part. I pretended I didn't see it when I passed by. But one architect from Europe came and said, "Who made this?" So that White House was something like this disaster. One day, a movie team came from Bombay, from Bollywood, to shoot a movie in the village. They were sleeping in that big hall downstairs. Somehow they managed to start a fire. It seems somebody was smoking and threw a cigarette onto the foam you brought from Europe, that we could sleep on. It was four o'clock in the night. I was driving the truck, moving sand from one pile to another. I saw smoke, and the operator of the excavator was running across the field. I wasn't sure if the excavator had started to burn because it was new. But when I came near, I saw the building was already burning. Luckily, Swami Gajarānjī wakes up very early in the morning, and he has a very strong voice. He was shouting, "Alarm, alarm! Fire, fire!" and all people were out. We tried to reach Swamiji, but it was not possible. Swamiji was in one room on the other side where Gurujī was, so we made a rescue action. With buckets, we tried to bring water. Some of us ran up because the fire was going up, and upstairs there were gas cylinders; we were afraid they would explode. Then it made a "boof." We didn't know what that meant. There was one karate man with us. He said, "I will just jump in through the window, break the window, and jump in." I told him, "First, look what is inside." He looked, and there was nothing because the entire floor had fallen down. That floor actually distinguished the fire. Okay, the action was successfully finished. The fire brigade from Pali came three hours after the fire was extinguished. Swamiji said, "Oh, it is good that it broke down. Anyhow, it was useless because it was very bad quality. We'll make a new one, but this time..." Emilka Mejslíková is waiting for her grandmother over there at the door. Is there a grandmother from Emilie? Emilie Mejslíková is searching for the parents. Swamiji said, "Okay, but now we'll make an underground basement also," and we started to work. Swamiji said, "Okay, and now we'll build it with a warehouse." We called a contractor. He started to make the foundation, and then the rain started, and the contractor disappeared. That time, we ourselves, the Karma Yogīs, removed a big part of the building—the central part and the side of the desk, four rooms, then came six rooms and eight rooms, I don't know—so the building became bigger. We started to make verandas behind. We supported that veranda, which was hanging in the air, with some pillars. Everything was quite weak because the soil there is very hard when it's dry, but when it's wet, it's very soft. The rain started, and the contractor disappeared. The soil crashed down into the hole where the underground basement was, and Swamiji said, "Yogesh, do something." We were all working—I think Jasroṭī and you were there—and all of us were quickly making masonry work and building up. Swāmījī was sitting on a bed next to the building, talking to the Indians about the weather, about agriculture, about everything, pretending that he did not care what we were doing. Those slabs were hanging in the air, six meters long, nearly three meters wide, without any support. They were in the air... We just supported them with some wood; we had one plank and supported it with that plank. Physically, it's not possible. I cannot stand in there like this. We were working, working, and we managed to support it. I think after three days, or two days—we were working there three days and nights. Of course, then we made one floor more, and then one floor more, and a dome, and now we have quite a nice building. So in this way, everything is built in Jadan. The Shiva Temple was the first office. It was just a round, terrible, round building. You cannot imagine how ugly it looked. I could not not make a drawing. I went to Guruji and said, "Guruji, let us make a veranda round and a small dome up, and it will be a nicer office." Guruji said, "Yes, very good." When Swamiji came from Europe, he said, "What have you done? I didn't tell you that. I didn't want to have this. Okay, make a Shiva temple. We'll make a Shiva temple out of that." So everything is built like that. I was thinking, okay, these small buildings, okay, but Omāśram—Swāmījī will not play with that like that. A big mistake of a naive disciple. So I said, "Yes, Yogesh, we'll put gobar on the walls of the Omāśram." Gobar is cow dung. Cow dung is a good thing. Why not? It's very good, healthy, nice. But what will happen when Swamiji says, "Yogesh, take it down and put plaster on"? Because on the cow dung, whatever you put will fall down. To finish slowly, because I'm talking much too long: Jadan, any ashram in the world, any yoga center, any yoga society, it is a fantastic playground where Guru, where Gurudev, is teaching us how to obey, how to overcome our attachments, our ideas. He teaches us how to listen, how to overcome our attachments, how to overcome our own ideas. And those who do not run away get stronger. So to be anywhere in Swāmījī’s shelter is great, great, great. But it's hard because Swamijī will mix people who are not going together. To one he will say, "Do this," and to the other he will say the opposite, "Do that." And then he will look and observe how they are managing. He is doing, you know—you are more or less all organizers involved in some kind of seva—you know how it works. I had packed my luggage, ready to go from Jadan from the first year, not from the second year, but for 15 years. It was completely ready to just pack and go. I said, in this crazy ashram, I will not be. But I'm still there. Once I packed my things and left for the Himalayas. I said, "Now I go. I will not come back. I will not inform Swamījī. Just go." Small lion, you know, but there is a big lion, Swamiji. But anyhow, the heart could not, did not give me permission to just go and not say goodbye to Swamiji. So in Delhi, I phoned Swamiji and said, "Swamiji, I'm going." But of course, my heart didn't allow me to just disappear, so I called Swamiji. He said, "Swamiji, I'm going." Swamiji said, "Okay, anyhow, you know you have nowhere to run, but if you want, okay, go to Haridwar. There is one ashram, and just stay for some time there, and then go." "If you want." I was thinking, "Oh my God, why did I find him?" So now, Guru Vākyā, I have to follow it. I went to the Dachshund, and I saw there were six sannyāsīs there fighting among themselves: jealousy, anger. They were the same as in Jadan. And Guruji immediately, when I came, gave me the task to build a road. I was looking at that and thinking, here is the same as in Jadan, so better to go back. So that was my final run away. I opened my luggage and put it back on the shelves. So, those who manage to come through all this seva, similar to what we are doing now, and when he will not react anymore negatively to Swāmījī’s līlās, he will pass the next class. And this is Karma Yoga. Karma Yoga. We've managed already 50% of the yogas. Bhakti brings kṛpā. Guru bhakti brings Guru kṛpā. And the doors are open to do sādhanā. In satsaṅg, we start to understand what is jñāna, the true jñāna. You know, suddenly the horizon opens, and you see more and more, understand more and more, and become aware more and more of everything around you. So, as Swamiji the day before yesterday so nicely said, we have a fantastic system, and all of you are highly qualified yoga teachers, instructors, and we have satsaṅg. We have Gurudeva, and this is, we have Ātmā in our system. It is Ātmā Gurudev, and we are all blessed so much that we cannot even imagine how much we will understand. One day we will understand. So with this, I will finish, and thank you very much for listening to me so long. I would like to thank Swāmī Yogeś Purī for visiting the Strelka āśram. I had the feeling that all of Jadan came here, that Yogeś Purījī is here. So Swamījī has sent us the most beautiful people of Jadan. For us, the most valuable thing is the practical experiences which they are sharing with us. They are showing the real values which Swamījī is bringing to us. And they are actually the living proof of this teaching. They are the living glory of Swāmījī. Don’t worry, I won’t give a speech now. Just a very short add-on to the story of Swāmī Yogeś about this fire in the White House. Because it’s not just a technical thing, that the house is building and broken down. That was our home; we were living there, and I was a sannyāsī. I had renounced, but in that moment I realized what it means. It was a situation where the fire was on, and it was clear. It was said by the fire police that most probably the whole building would collapse and everything would burn. So now I was in my room and had the choice: what should I take with me when I run out? Should I take a pile of clothes or a pile of books? And I thought, "That’s stupid." I’m standing outside, observing how a building is burning with a pile of books. And I said, "I leave everything behind." I took nothing. There was somehow another Sannyās Dīkṣā for me. And in this context, something also happens, what I would say is some kind of miracle. A little bit comparable to the story from Līlā Amṛt, when Śrī Devpurījī, I think, orders to make a big pile of the books and they are all burned, and only one book remains. So, something similar happened there in this fire, because what Yogī said—that the whole floor collapsed—is not true. It was the floor of the second floor. How to say? The floor of the hall on the second floor. This was actually at that time a storeroom. On one side, that was our study hall. And on the other side, there was a library. At that time, it was only one of these metal cupboards. The whole floor fell down except the side where the library was. But that’s not enough because the flames were very strong and going meters high. But by good fortune, this cupboard was closed in time, and though it was somehow surrounded by the fire, it was not burned. I had always very carefully made sure that we were collecting only spiritual books. Not a single book was burned. Only some that were touching the outside, the metal cover, were destroyed. But not a single book was burned. Only those that touched the walls of the chest were a little bit spread out, the edges, but nothing happened to any book. So it was a little bit like a fire test of the lacquer.