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Practice With Spiritual Awareness

The value of practice vastly outweighs theoretical knowledge. Theory alone is insufficient; one can think anything, but that does not make it real. Practical experience and realization depend solely on the individual. Two forms of practice are essential: dedicated meditation and mantra repetition for mental balance, and the continuous practice of saintly attitude, selfless service, and equal vision in daily life. Physical practice should be gentle and balanced, never forced. Mental practice involves constant inner connection through devotion and remembrance. Both are required to harmonize body, mind, and intellect for self-realization. The journey requires this instrument of the body, but one must not mistake the vehicle for the destination.

"Tons of theory is nothing with a gram of practice."

"Ati sarvatra varjayet—too much is everywhere rejected."

Filming location: Vép, Hungary

Good morning to everybody. It is nice to see you all, and a welcome to those who have arrived this morning. The subject we always have is body, mind, soul, and ātmā. This is very important, and our main concern is how to get to the ātmā. Theory is different, and practice is different. With theory, we can do very little. You can think mentally that you are a millionaire. No one prohibits you. You can think that you are the richest person in the world. Okay, all right. But you are not. Or you can think that you are self-realized. How beautiful it is. But it is only your thinking. That is why someone said, "Tons of theory is nothing with a gram of practice." Practice is very, very important. Practical experiences and practical realization depend only on the individual self. You may have someone with you, and that person is practicing and practicing for God’s self-realization, but you did not. Why? You are living in the same room, the same house, eating the same thing, everything. But that person practiced. And that is very important. Now, in this hectic world full of stress, though we would like to practice, sometimes there are situations where we cannot. But we shall try, as much as we can, to remain in practice. There is another kind of practice which we can do even when we are very busy. That is called Sant Bhāva, that is called Sevā Bhāva, that is called equal vision. Sant Bhāva is humbleness and thinking with wisdom. Sevak Bhāva means volunteer. In this modern world, we call it volunteer; otherwise, it is called supporter, karma yogī. And sevak means bhakti. So, a devotee, a bhakta to God, will serve in many ways: through the mind, through your words, and through your actions. This means satsaṅg—satsaṅg in our thinking, in our living, in our behaviors—and bhakta-bhāva. It is the devotion, and we do see the divine in everyone. We do respect all lives; that is very important. So, we shall keep both kinds of practice. One practice is, as I told yesterday, when we meditate. I will repeat our mantra with prayer. This is the best way to get rid of all the stress or all the mental pollution from the daytime's work. That is very important. And at the same time, also the body work to harmonize the body’s energy. Some people are doing too much stretching and forcing themselves into certain postures. What we call extreme means you do not love your body, and you try to squeeze everything out of your body. That is not good. We should be very gentle to our body, never force the body, and practice balanced exercise, like from yoga and daily life. Also in eating, do not force your body to eat certain things. Do not force your body to eat too much. The body knows how much it needs. When we begin to overdo, then the body cannot manage. These are yogic principles. Therefore it is said, "Ati sarvatra varjayet." "Ati sarvatra varjayet" means too much is everywhere rejected. Therefore, we should remain balanced in the middle. So, if you cannot do seven days a week your āsanas and prāṇāyāmas, then at least you should be able to do five days. But the sādhbhāva, the mental satsaṅg, mānasik pūjā, mānasik ceremony, with your body, with your mind, with your intellect—this will keep you in such a beautiful, balanced, harmonious life. Otherwise, your body will be out of control, your senses will be out of control, your intellect will be out of control, your mind will be out of control. Then everything is working opposite to each other, and that is not acceptable. So these are the practices. The tons of theory are nothing compared to a gram of practice. We acknowledge both kinds of practices, physical and mental. Meditation is mental. Prayer is mental. And mantra is very important. For a yoga practitioner, the mantra is something like a scale which is balancing—the stick where these two cups or balls are balanced. It is that stick which keeps the balance. To keep balance is not easy. When the balance is in imbalance, then you are searching for something outside. Then suddenly, a feeling comes that you are missing something. You want to do different things. So everything is out of control. Therefore, śānta bhāva means satsaṅg. "Sat" means truth, "saṅg" means to be with. It means not only outside, but inside—hold on to your inner truth. Brahma satya, jagad mithyā. So, your inner feelings, how you feel, and how you can overcome inner feelings. When you repeat your mantra, and with repeating mantra you do some exercises, it brings physical, mental, and emotional balance. Also, it brings your entire being into one-pointedness when you practice your physical postures and exercises with mantra. Otherwise, you are practicing and thinking to be somewhere on the beach, or you are practicing and thinking to be somewhere in the riding school or about your business and what not. So mantra brings your vṛttis, your thinking process, again back to yourself to feel thy life, thy aim, and everything. So both kinds of practices are very important: the physical as well as the mental. That brings the experiences. Theory does not bring so much experience. And that experience makes real knowledge, and that is why it is called self-realization. That is very important. But only reading the books and now thinking, "I am not this body, this body is only matter, it will go away. Ātmā, mind is very strong, mind is just a process. Intellect, it is just experiences. But ātmā is the eternal." Yes, it is true. But what? There is one story about one man, Kuntz. He wanted to be the richest person in the world, or at least in the village, and tried to work and work, but he could not be. He married, so he worked and brought money home and gave it to his wife. The next day, again, the wife asked for money. Every day she asked for money. So, the wife is that money bank where you can deposit? The man thought, "I must earn so much money for my wife that even she will not know how to spend the money." Someone thought that only God can give you, so he said, "Okay, I go to God." So he went to God to pray. He sat somewhere on the beach, praying and praying... Two years, three years, four years. They said, "God will come." So from the ocean, God came and said, "Yes, my son, what do you wish?" He said, "Who are you?" He said, "I am God." "Then why do you ask me what I wish? You know everything, God." God said, "I know everything, but I want to hear from you. Otherwise, you will say, 'I did not say it.'" He said, "I want to become the richest one. Whatever I wish, I get." God said, "No problem." So he took one conch from the ocean, a very nice one, which you can blow and say anything you wish. "Make pūjā to this conch and ask him; he will give you everything you may ask for: food, clothes, car, house, many, many things." He said, "That is very nice, God. Will he give me gold?" "Yes." "Money?" "Yes." "Forints?" "Yes." "Dinars?" "Yes." So he made an experiment, and then everything came. Now he went back home. He had to walk about 800 kilometers. Sorry, 800 kilometers, so it took him time to come. He was about 40 kilometers from his hometown, and there he had one good friend. So he thought, "Tonight I should stay with my friend." And his friend was very happy. The friend said, "My dear friend, where have you been? So many years we were missing you." So he said this and that, everything. "So did you fulfill your wish?" "Yes, God came." "Oh, God came? And what happened?" "Everything happened," he said. "What? Whatever I could wish, wow. Tell me something." He said: "God gave me this one beautiful conch. Whatever I wish, this conch will give me." "Really? It looks nice. Well, my dear, what can you get now?" He said, "Well, we are all, the whole family is sitting together, and still we are hungry. So we would like to eat masala dosa today—South Indian specialty. It is called a paper dosa. Paper dosa, very thin, and half a meter long." Well, so he said, "Oh, Divine Lord, Kaṁsa Dev. We are seven people here, and all should get nice masala dosa. And do not forget chutney, sambal, salad, etc. But oh Śaṅk Dev, also everyone should have dakṣiṇā, pay it—one thousand rupees. And do not forget that everyone will get a nice shawl." And within five minutes, everything just appeared. The friend was surprised. "Does it bring gold also?" "Yes." So he asked Śaṅk Dev for a very nice necklace for his friend’s wife, earrings, and for his friend, a chain. Everything came. Now, it is said that greed can cross the boundary of friendliness, of friendship. So that man begins to think, "I shall take away this conch from him." That is a friend. Many good friends you have, and when you do some business together, friendship is gone. When you give a loan to your friend, it is very good, but when you ask to get the money back, the friendship is gone. It is a dharma, dhīraja, mitra, arunārī. Tulsī Dās Jī said, "Dharma, dharma is your dharma. Dharma is impassion. Mitra, the friends. Nārī, your partner, husband or wife." These four, if they are really yours or not, you can test them only in difficult times, if they are still your friends. People love your money, not your skin. So, the friend who came to visit with the conch was very tired, so he was sleeping deeply, and the host friend had in his house a similar conch, so he exchanged it from his luggage. That is why do not leave your luggage anywhere. Railway station, airport, every public place, they are announcing, "Do not leave your luggage unattended." Unfortunately, many bad things happen. The next morning, that man went, he came to the home, and he announced to the people, "He had beautiful conch, can give everything." So the village people were very happy and surprised. He said, "Tomorrow I invite all of you for lunch. Nobody should cook anything at home. We will all meet in the park to see the miracle. Those who do not want to come, even if you are very busy, and your boss does not give you the day free to go see the miracle—you tell your boss he will be the first one who will run there to see the miracle." You are all listening to satsaṅg peacefully, looking at me, and happy. Now, if Sital Puri outside is standing near the car, and he is levitating, how many will remain here, only looking at me? All will turn and go quickly out, and I will also tell, "Move, move, I want to see." So these are the miracles. It makes a big temptation for people. All were hungry, so they came there, and he brought the conch and made the pūjā. And said, "Oh Lord, consider for these 3,000 people the most delicious food: purī, halvā, cream, schnitzel, lasagna, and do not forget pizza, etc., etc. All for each person, big plate." Looking in the sky, nothing is coming. "Continue. What are you doing? Nothing is coming." Again, he makes like conch leaves, because the real conch was taken away, stolen. He said, "I am sorry." They said, "What happened?" So some person was sitting there, like Kṛṣṇānand, he said, "Oh, it is okay, no problem. The battery is discharged from the battery inside. Let him go home and charge his battery." So next time, my dear friends, save the situation. Now, that man ran back to the ocean and was shouting at God, "Why did you do this to me? If you wanted to give, you could have given me, or you could have refused me. Here are your conch!" He threw it into the ocean. God came and caught it. God said, "This is the wrong one, my dear." "No, no, it is not the wrong one." Then God told him the whole story of what happened to the real one. "So, God, how should I get the real one again?" God said, "Yes, I will give you... God, kürtöt, give me five thousand, he will say no, not five thousand, five hundred thousand, so that you do not have to ask again and again. He gives you more than what you wish. Yes, Lord, that is the best." God said, "But I tell you, only you, he will give you nothing. He only speaks, 'Take it, five thousand, five hundred thousand.' And if he asks, 'Can you give me?' then he will say, 'Yes, I kick you. Go to your friend again and tell him that you have some miracles again, and do this ceremony. When you ask for five, seven people for eating, Kuntz will say, 'Why seven? Invite all. Seven hundred people should get down.' Then you should say after, 'Okay, thank you, Kaṁs Dev. We will think it over and ask you after.' The greedy man will think that is the best one. And at home, he does not have another one. So in the night, the real one he will put again in your luggage, and this one he will take." And so it happened. So there are some who are just talking. "Yes, you are Ātmā, Saccidānanda." But what to do? You are Ātmā. So say, "Yes, show me." Ātmā cannot be seen; it is invisible. It is like the sky. You want to see Ātmā, go and look in the sky. Say, oh, that is Ātmā. But that Ātmā cannot give you chapati. It cannot give you the ivory. Also, I cannot give you anything that you want. So there are two things. That is why the Creator has created this material world. We do not deny it, but also we do not take it as an absolute truth. Though it is, it is not. Finally, Brahman is the truth, but this world is unreality. What is changing is not a reality; it is unreality. When you buy a gold chain or a golden watch, and after five days the gold is gone, because that was only the smoke of the gold on it, that is gone. So, four days of the moon, nights rest; all are the dark nights. But this body is the instrument. We are waiting for the train, looking at the watch for when it will come. We booked a very comfortable, good place in the train. We came in and we look; everything is so beautiful, you like it. But when your destination will come, the station, without thinking of the train, you will just get off and go to your seat, and your train will tell you, "Oh man, that is all? You left me. You were waiting for me, and I came quickly, and you came and said, 'Oh, very nice.' How selfish you are. You are going, but you do not hear." Similarly, we come to this body. We are looking forward for the human body. We feel comfortable. This will bring us to our destination. Then the train will say, "Here you are." And this body, this train of the body, will go further—the elements into the elements. Therefore, practice and theory both have to go together. So theory is only for inspiration, motivation. But practice is the real. When you start from your home, you know that you have to go to that city. That is your destination. In thinking, you are already there, but physically not. So the physical you can be there when you use the physical transportation. So though that is not truth, reality, but still shows you the reality. So this life is a journey, not a destination, and this journey cannot be completed without this life. And this life is our body. So the body is not everything, but everything is not possible without this body. So we need a healthy body, a healthy mind, and a healthy intellect. So the satsaṅg, śāntabhāva, the saintly thinking—always make satsaṅg in your mind. And mental pūjā. When you close your eyes, can you imagine that you are with them? One cow gave a calf, and the calf is there where the cow was staying. And cows in the field—she is grazing, but her feeling is there where the calf is. And the calf is sitting there, tired and hungry. And what does he see, that little baby? Mother. Mother will come and give me a meal, and she is eating and feeding the baby. The cow makes again, meaning yes, and the baby is thinking of the mother, "Ma, mother, where will you come? The distance is two kilometers." This is the inner call, so when the baby thinks... Mother tells, "I am coming," and when mother is telling again, something, baby is calling, "Ma." That is the inner connection. So even animals feel that inner connection, and that is connection with your Gurudev, that is connection with God, that is with your parents—one whom you love. So you close your eyes, and when you feel, imagine Mānasik Pūjā, everything is there. This is sant bhāva, bhakti bhāva. Prem bhāva. Prem bhāva, the bhāva of love. So you may call prem bhāva or bhakti bhāva. So, practice both the physical and the mental. Now, mentally, when you practice, you should be aware about that. Mother is working in the kitchen, but she is aware about her child, what he is doing, just begin to walk on four. The child does not put finger in electric plugs. Our child does not touch the fire or does not fall something on the child. So similarly, you are working, we are working, but that our Beloved is always with us, God is always with us. Therefore, Gurujī said in his prayer, "Gurujī, I want to say something here." "Deepadaya kar kirpa moye sat sang, kar kirpa moye sat sang." He said, "Pal pal Prabhujī toi pukāru." "Pal" means in German they say, just to close your eyelid and open, that is it. It is like a second. The meek one and the weak one, I am very meek and weak. Oh Lord, listen, my listen my prayer, so heart may come in hands. You have work. And in your mouth, you have the name of God, so that is a mānasik practice. But again, the mānasik can become imbalanced if there is no physical practice, so both have to be in balance. Finally, we have to go to the mānasik, so mānasik practice, mānasik pūjā, mānasik ceremony should become stronger and stronger. So, I wish you a very good evening and afternoon, a very good appetite, and we will speak again this evening. All the best. And we will have now a little bhajan singing. And there are some bhaktas who came now, so they would like to come here. And greeting, or whatever it is, you sing bhajan. So, whoa.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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