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Part 1: The Gift of the Guru: Mantra, Destiny, and Spiritual Recognition Sugandhī, Śiva, Śiva, Naran Bhagavān. Salutation to the cosmic light, Lord of our hearts, omniscient and omnipresent. In his divine presence, very good evening, dear brothers and sisters. Many blessings to all aspirants, practitioners, seekers, and devotees around the world who are with me now through the webcast. This blessing comes to you from New York, from the Yoga and Daily Life Āśram in Whitestone. To those celebrating a birthday or any special event today, I bless you in the name of the Almighty and pray for your good health, strength, and happiness. This evening’s subject is mantra and our spiritual sādhanā, or yoga practice. First, I introduce our honorable guests. One is our dear friend, the General Counsel of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Lubitsch. Welcome, sir. Whenever I visit, the president is kind enough to send a message, and his council meets me. Even without a message, he comes, for we are close. In Croatia, ‘Yoga and Daily Life’ is known in every village. It is a country of beauty—the Adriatic coast, its people, its nature. God bless that land. We welcome you, sir. It is said you never know where your destiny will lead you. Yesterday we spoke of three levels of consciousness: past, present, and future. We have memories of the past and awareness of the present, but we do not know what the future holds, even one second ahead. Always be ready to face new events, experiences, and happenings. That is our life. Life is a mystery. As individuals, we float on the waves of time through the universe, experiencing good and bad, light and darkness. The wind of destiny drives us in different directions. Therefore, be ready to face and accept what comes. How should one recognize someone? For example, hundreds of sheep and goats graze in a field. The shepherd tends them, and elsewhere there are a hundred or two hundred young. In the evening, the mothers come. Each baby recognizes its mother instantly and begins to drink. Similarly, when you meet persons of spiritual quality, you need no introduction; your eyes will tell you, "That’s it." It is like a magnet attracting iron without a word. Life is a mantra, and you need the touch of the master. Therefore, the master is crucial for our development. Today, I visited a beautiful atelier, a studio. A beautiful artist was there. When we met, our appearances were like the holy rivers Gaṅgā and Yamunā flowing together. I could feel in his heart the remembrance of his beloved master, Swami Satchidānandajī, who is known to many in America. He had a longer beard and hair than I, and in my memory, his hair was whiter. This great artist, our dear brother Peter Marks, is welcome here. He is a great artist, famous from the time of the Beatles until now, painting and presenting happiness. His work has been in Time magazine, featuring the Beatles, the Maharishi, presidents, and many luminaries and celebrities—VIPs and friends, without distinction. If an artist or master distinguishes between "my disciple" and "not my disciple," he is neither a true master nor a true artist. Their vision is equal and fixed on reality. To be an artist, a painter, is a deep meditation. It is said a painting can be heard like music, and music’s resonance can be painted. I am not a painter; I do not know how to mix colors. They take white and something, and it becomes green; they make something else, and it becomes blue. Similarly, one must know which mantra and how it makes your life divine. Without mantra, any spiritual or yoga practice is like a body without a soul, a life without breath. Mantra is a torchlight to walk through the darkness of ignorance and cross the worldly ocean. Our dear brother Peter Marks—I am happy to hear the name his master gave him: Ātmā. Do you know what my ātmā is? The Divine Self, not merely a soul. The soul is individual; ātmā is the universal soul. The soul has destiny, karma, birth, and death; it experiences pain and pleasure. Ātmā is one day free from karmas and destinies. It is known as everlasting bliss, eternal happiness. The great saint Swami Sivanandaji of Rishikesh, who passed away in 1963 around the same time as our great master Mahāprabhujī, said: "Within you is the ocean of bliss. Within you is a fountain of joy. Within you is the immortal one. Kill this little ‘I’ and lead a divine life." Swami Sivanandaji said, "Love, serve, meditate, and realize." Without love, you cannot proceed; without love, you cannot serve. So, awake with love—universal love, equal love. Love, then serve. Serve and meditate whenever you find time. Otherwise, it is said, work is worship. The highest thing is service. Helping hands have more value than folded hands. So we welcome you, Ātmā. Dear brother Ātmā. And another disciple of Swami Satchidānandajī, a great worker, warrior, and strength: our dear Arjuna. When a master gives a name, it has purpose. Why did the master choose this name for you? Psychologically, directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously, that name reflects upon you. It becomes your duty to realize it. Arjuna means to protect, to balance, to be strength. It means to remove all doubts and negative energy, to protect the truth. These are the two personalities I invited this evening. They are very busy, but when asked, Peter said yes without a second thought. He taught me two or three very touching things. As he has another commitment and must leave, I request him to share a few words. Welcome. The floor is yours. Peter Marks: What I mentioned to Swāmījī today, and I speak of often, is that in this country and around the world, we are blessed by the greatest export any country has ever given: India giving us Swāmīs. It is unbelievable. I cannot thank the universe enough to be part of it and to have experienced it. In 1966, in my mid-twenties, I knew nothing about yoga. I was born in Berlin, lived in Shanghai, spent time in India and Africa, came to Paris, and arrived here at 15, becoming an artist. I gained some popularity in the mid-late 60s. One night at 2:30 AM, I was working on a large collage of the universe, using pictures from observatories. After three days, I climbed a ladder to view it from near the ceiling, hoping to see something amazing, but I only saw my collage. I climbed down, lifted my hands, and prayed, "Please give me a sign." Suddenly, between my feet, a vision appeared—like a cloud opening—and a man with a beard, much like Swāmījī’s, with a very white beard at the time, patted my head and said, "It’s okay." It was a strange, quick moment, but very touching. I thought, "Wow, that vision told me to be relaxed." Around 3 AM, the phone rang. I answered, "Hello?" A man said, "My name is Conrad Rooks. I’m calling from Paris." I said, "Do you know what time it is?" He said, "I forgot. I want you to come to Paris and help me make a movie. I’ve traveled through India and am now in Paris." I told him I couldn’t come; I had a young son and a pregnant wife. He offered money, but I refused. The next day, my door opened, and he appeared. I said, "I thought you were in Paris." He said, "When I couldn’t get you to come, I jumped on the next plane." He brought a very famous poet, Allen Ginsberg, who talked me into going to Paris. In Paris, a few days later, I was having breakfast with Conrad Rooks. He picked up the phone and said, "Hello, Swami. I’ve got the American artist with me. Why don’t you join us for breakfast?" I didn’t know what a Swami was; I’d never heard the word. I knew Indian Sikhs from Shanghai, but not "Swami." Within five minutes, a tall gentleman in orange robes, with a long beard, approached and sat opposite me. He said, "Hello," very sweetly. I thought "Swami" was his name, like "Sammy." After talking for a few minutes—he was so sweet—I thought he might be a businessman, but there was a beautiful quality about him. When Conrad took a phone call, I said, "Swami, what do you do?" He said, "I’m a monk from India. I come from a tradition of monkhood." Suddenly I realized, "Oh my God, of course. That’s where the sweetness comes from." Over the next three or four days, I spent every minute with him. Even in the car, I wanted my arm next to his, to rub knees with him—I just wanted to be near him. On the third day, I said to him—remember, 1966 was the time of hippies, flowers in hair, the Beatles—"America needs you. Would you come to America?" He said, "America needs me? Why?" I told him we were all searching for something, and he seemed to contain many answers. So he came to America with me. We opened the first small yoga center on 500 Western Avenue, then the Integral Yoga Institute on 13th Street, and later the large ashram in Virginia. Through all these years, I’ve realized the greatest gift the world gives us is from India: these wonderful Swāmīs, like yourself, who come to guide us and give unbelievable inner joy, which we then spread to others. My whole life and work are run by that. I am like a yogī. Thank you for all the wonderful work you do around the world. I would like to introduce Arjuna Victor, my buddy. He came from advertising. After Swāmījī stayed with me for a month, he stayed with Arjuna. We made wonderful posters about Swāmījī together. When Peter called and told me to come see Swāmījī, it was a unique experience. For me, hearing "Swami" brought to mind old circus posters of Swamis lying on beds of nails, performing extraordinary feats. I didn’t realize the real feats they could perform. To suddenly find a Swami in my midst was amazing. For the first week he was here, he moved into my house near Central Park. The Museum of Natural History and the American Historical Society were down the block. I said, "Swāmījī, the park is downstairs, here are the museums. Here’s a key if you’d like to walk around. It’s a nice neighborhood." He said, "Thank you so much, but I would be happy to stay inside." I thought maybe he didn’t want to go out alone and offered to come at lunchtime. It was beautiful spring. He said, "You needn’t be concerned. I have many parks and museums within me." Suddenly, tears rolled down my cheeks. I didn’t know the word "guru," but I knew at that moment I had a guru. From then on, every day was a lesson. Swāmījī never said, "Don’t do this, don’t do that." I brought him to the diner where I had lunch and ordered a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. I asked, "Would you like one too?" He said, "Yes, very nice. Just tell them to hold the bacon." I thought, maybe he’s kosher. There were many stories like this. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn yoga. With Ātmā here, who brought us all together at first—it was a group of about twelve of us, like disciples—we formed the Integral Yoga Institute. We really got to experience what yoga was. To see it today, from our little beginnings then, it’s like a 27-billion-dollar industry. Part 2: The Soul's Thirst and the Mantra's Light It is amazing. Wherever we go now, even in our building on the fourth floor, there is a yoga center. One of the girls who works with us is pregnant and is now taking prenatal yoga classes. It is everywhere. And what we have missed—what I have missed for these years—is that wonderful presence of a great master. We had all the gurus who came with Swami Sajid Nanda, Mukta Nanda, Yogi Bhajan, Rajneesh; so many, many gurus came. I am just so happy to have met you today, Swāmījī, and to have that back in our lives again, because it has been missing in this country for a while. It is great to have you, so thank you. May I share something? An ill person knows what a remedy means. An ill person lying in the hospital, in pain, unable to sleep, prays to God: "Lord, when will the sun rise again so the doctor will come and give me medicine to release my pain?" A thirsty person is searching for water. Here in New York, you people do not know what water is. You do not know. The sun has been shining for the last three days, and everywhere it is, "Wow, such beautiful weather." But we, people who come from the desert—you saw in the video—carry a few liters of water for kilometers, even now at home. That water is everything: drinking, cooking, cleaning, and washing. So they know what water is, but we do not know what the sun is. You know what the sun is because when the sun is hiding, it is beautiful. We have eleven months and fifteen days of sunshine, so we look for the shade to walk somewhere under a shadow and be relaxed. Indian poetry will say, "I wish you always have a shadow over your head." And here, you say in poetry, "I wish always sunshine on your path." Similarly, when the spiritual soul incarnates on this planet, it is searching. Maybe you are not searching consciously; you are not aware of it. But your inner, inner self is searching. And when you see that, your heart melts, your tears flow—this is that one. Great Swami Yoganandaji from California, coming from India—you have definitely seen his book, Autobiography of a Yogi—he writes a song, many, many in English and in Hindi. He writes: "Door of my heart, open wide I keep for thee. Wilt thou come, wilt thou come? Just once come to me. Will my days fly away without seeing thee, my Lord? Night and day, night and day, I look for thee." Our soul, our ātmā, is looking for that reunion. The practice of yoga, the practice of spiritual sādhanās, and the purpose of human life is to achieve that reunion again. So, yoga means union, but practicing means the reunion. We are part of that universal one, and we have lost the memory of it. When we meet the Master and the Master blesses us, we give you the mantra. That mantra is the key to open that door to the universe, to open the door of your heart. A mantra is that word which influences or manipulates the energy. There are positive mantras and negative ones, as described in our human language. A mantra can change the entire environment and atmosphere within no time. There is one example. In India, they say the best way to learn something is either through examples, stories, or poetry. And if you want to make stories more enjoyable, you put them in a play, like a theater drama. So the example for how a mantra can change the atmosphere within no time—or if it is negative, how it can also do so—is this: From the very beginning, there are two powers, which I spoke of yesterday also: āsurī śakti and daivī śakti. In the beginning of this universe's creation, anant brahmān, the endless universe—we do not know where the beginning is and where the end is of this space that we see—there was nothing, śūnyakāśa, void space. That, as I told you yesterday, is called the mother's body. That is called the cosmic mother. The space which represents the ātmā—jise śāstra kāṭe nā agni jalāve, bujhāve nā pānī nā mṛtiv mitāve—in the Bhagavad Gītā, God Kṛṣṇa said: "Ātmā cannot be killed by any weapon. Fire cannot burn it, no elements can destroy it, and death cannot take it away." Unborn, immortal, everlasting, divine, Satchitānanda—the Ātmā. That Ātmā is here also, within you and within me and in this room. For example, take one knife—symbolically, oh, do not bring it inside now, it is not allowed by security—take the knife and this space between ceiling and floor. Cut this space. Move the knife day and night until you cannot anymore. Then take a magnifying glass and look if there is a scratch. Similarly, Ātmā is like this space. Whatever is existing, exists within Ātmā. And that Ātmā cannot be burned. You cannot burn the space. You cannot destroy the space. Objects, of course, can be destroyed. So the soul is this wall, the soul is this building, and the ātmā is this building. Within this space, it is called Hiraṇya Garbha, the cosmic mother. In her womb, it is called a golden embryo, and that golden embryo is called universal consciousness. That pure consciousness, which you may call God, you may call love, you may call light, you may call truth, or you may call ātmā, or you may call Paramātmā, sat-chit-ānanda. The definition of that ātmā is sat-chit-ānanda. Sat means the truth, chit means the consciousness, and ānanda means there is no empty space in the entire universe, endless, because everywhere is that consciousness. Now, the space and consciousness are balanced together by one power, and that is called yoga. That is balanced, or united, like cement takes two bricks together and unites them; that is a harmonizing. Where there is balance and harmony, there is unity, and that means yoga. That is why Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad Gītā: "Arjuna, time to time I manifest myself through my yoga māyā, through my yogic śakti, yogic power." Within that, what we call the śakti, is a tendency, and that is described in the Vedas: Eko’ham bahusyāmi—"I am one, and now I will multiply myself." That is called Swayambhū. No one has created him. He has manifested himself in the entire universe in the form of sound. That is the form of the supreme. If you want to see how God looks, then it is a resonance. That resonance, the first awakening, nāda in the universe, is still today in every atom, in everything, and in the space. It is that sound which unites, harmonizes, and keeps us. Our five-element body is brought together through those divine results. Then, after that, the elements were created, and different planets. So it is said: Caturdaśa Loka, Ekiśo Brahman—fourteen different worlds, seven below and seven above. And 2,100 different universes, or solar systems, were discovered by yogīs. Far beyond that is indescribable. Buddha, what we call the Buddha, he describes his life from the stone, how it began, his consciousness, and then he came to a certain level and he lost. That is why he said there is nothing, there is no form, and so only consciousness. So mantra is origin. The origin of that mantra is that cosmic sound which you saw in the form of the Oṃ. After many years of meditation and sādhanā, as our dear brother Peter Marks—or Ātmā, sorry—said, how in his vision it came when he was looking at his, this picture, his claws, no? Oh, collage, collage... you know, in his language, collage is a cake, true? I was a little bit, yeah, but that is a cake, how you make that is a collage. And when he was looking, you know, you have no expectation, but still you put yourself in that, and for the sake of the world, did something, and you would like to see what I did. It is not expectation, but how will it be? And out of nothing, in the clouds, a white beard appears a little bit and says, "That is okay." And so, in my meditation, I was about 3:30 in the night in the country of Czechoslovakia, in the hills, in the mountains, beautiful mountains. A vision came to me, the light, and our Prabhujī, the Grandmaster, who lived 135 years—I have prepared for you this book—and he said, "You must read this." He said, "That is it." He told you like that, that is okay. And so he said to me, "That is it." What? You are waiting for it, I took it that, and it was the Oṃ form. So it is something like I bring the Oṃ from the universe to this planet. That resonance is the uniting principle. And so when the sound awoke, two tendencies or two kinds of energies were created or manifested. That is called devī śakti and āsurī śakti: the divine or positive energy, and the asurī, the devils or negative elements. Now, since that time, these two forces are fighting. Sometimes the asurī śakti, the negative, is dominating, and sometimes the devī śakti is dominating. They are coming, or clouds come and go. Similarly, on these planets also, the asurī and daivī śakti are constantly fighting. Now, this asurī śakti can enter in humans, can enter in animals, and suddenly the daivī śakti, positive, will come and cover. So this is a change constantly. If there is no blue, we do not know what is green. So there is a difference. And out of that entire—I do not want to go too far from there—out of, it is called the Anantabrahmāṇḍa Śāstra Sūrya, endless universe and thousands of the sun systems in this universe, declared by the Vedas long, long ago, beyond our memories. And from that is our beautiful planet. And on this planet, this planet is declared as a mortal world, a mortal planet, but at the same time, a living planet. So life is here, meaning that resonance manifests here. It is going through the Śaktis, Āsurīs and Devī Śaktis. And so the Creator has created 8.4 million different creatures on this planet. 8.4 million. And these 8.4 million are divided into three categories: celestial creatures, human creatures, and creatures in the water, on the earth, and in the air in this space. Now, these Śaktis, both Surī Śakti and Devī Śakti, are dominating on this planet. Asuras, the negative, would like to have on their side the positive; they would like to have that. So both have their armies, both have their messengers, both have their protectors. And so we have in this modern time also, for this Asura Śakti against Asura Śakti, we call Navy, ground force, and Air Force. Is the imitation then a story? It is a very long story about creation, but it is calling. You will come and go; that is why the mortal world is not immortal. But who is coming? The soul. The soul, which is fluttering on the waves of time through the endless universe, that is all we have: to come here to develop and then merge into the oneness, coming and going. Some people do not believe in rebirth; many do not believe in rebirth. Belief does not change the reality. If you believe, it is okay. If you do not believe, it is okay. It is sure that you will be reborn, that is all. And we, in spiritual language, call it reincarnation, and in normal language, we call it rebirth. You do not believe now in rebirth or reincarnation, okay? It is your... But now, humans have caused the biggest problem on this planet. The greatest threat to this planet is not terrorism, but climate change and pollution. And now, humans awoke and said, "Oh God, what have we done?" So every government is making a law: anything you produce on this planet should be recyclable. True? Do you know what recycling is? And do you believe in recycling? If you believe in recycling, then where is the problem in believing in reincarnation? Because you do not have that consciousness that you can follow to the astral world and then back. Some people said, "Okay, I believe, but I will be born as a human again." No permanent reservation. Your karma will lead you there. We are recycling a newspaper. Do you think that newspaper will become again the newspaper? May it become some other paper? May it become a cartoon or anything? Therefore, this life is given to get self-realization. Out of 8.4 million different creatures, one is the human. In yoga and in spirituality, there is no racism. And recent scientists declared, in human race, there is only one, and that is a human, no racism. Again, we come to the yoga. And it is said the human began life from the high mountains of the Himalayas, where now we call Tibet, and there was Śiva. And so the language appeared here, the mantra. How can it change? You have very urgent work to do. Someone in the office, an officer, and you have to go and say, "Please, I need your stamp and signature." That is all. It is very, very urgent, but you came five minutes late. The officer is closing his office. You said, "Yes, sir, please be so kind. It is very urgent for me and very important. Can you do this for me? Only one minute, one." Stamp, and you are successful. "Please, sir." The person will say, "Oh, how kind is this man." He will open again and go into the office, give the stamp, and sign it, and say, "Next time, come on time, you know? Your language, sir, be kind." Please, that is your mantra, vāśī karaṇa mantra. If you want to make all your friends, then give up the hard words. The same person, in the same office, at the same time, coming, but not using the words like "Dear sir," "Please, sir," but just comes and says, "Hey, bloody one, it is your duty, do it." What will happen, you know? The same mouth, same tongue, same person. If he says, "Please, sir," or "Hey, bloody one," and so on, these are the negative words, negative energy, negative mantra. There is black magic and so on, or positive mantra, which will purify all the negative energy and lead our consciousness to the cosmic consciousness. Therefore, mantra is that light, a torch light in your hand to walk through the darkness into the wild forest. Mantra is a guide. Without mantra, you cannot come through, but the mantra has to be given by a real spiritual master, what we call the guru. They are rare. There are gurus and many kangaroos jumping here and there. So the guru, who should have the spiritual lineage—we call paramparā—then you become that master and consciousness. It is said, water is good, but only that water will become a water, Gaṅgā, which... Water will enter into the Ganges, so that the practitioner becomes a master of awakening consciousness, who will come to the real Satguru, to the master. And therefore, without mantra, our sādhanā, which means practice, is senseless. Yes, you will get good muscles, a good stomach, everything, but how? Long—how long will you keep your life? Even if you close yourself in a bulletproof glass box, you will go out. Temporary life is given to us. Therefore, do practice spirituality, positive hearts, love, harmony, understanding, and guru bhakti. You must have the mantra, yes. I know there are many people who are just doing physically, but spiritually we need that, which is our prāṇa. You can make many models, but inside there is no soul. So mantra is that life in our sādhanā, to overcome all negative qualities and get the self. I wish you all the best. God bless you. And you can have, after some questions, our dear brothers. They are in a little bit of a hurry, and I do not want to keep them back, and they do not feel to go away without, between, so thank you. I will try to send... you, the webcast from Los Angeles tomorrow? I am in Los Angeles, so...