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Thank you for coming, and enjoy a great, lively night. As everybody knows, Mahāśivarātri is known by all, and it is a worship of Lord Śiva. We started with Gaṇeśa pūjā, as you heard about it. Moving towards a little bit of the ceremony of Śivarātri, as you saw, a priest or Swāmījī performed it. Our other colleagues are doing a Liṅga pūjā over here. There is a small Śivaliṅga here, and another one downstairs. We can say the Śivaliṅga is a central focus for us, and we start with the Śivaliṅga pūjā. Then, last but not least, there will be a talk, and afterwards some words from our committee as well. Please, not a long time, okay? I use sound techniques to prepare the music. I am a dancer. When you sit down, I can work during the whole evening. Maybe, if I could ask you, please, can you sit? She is better. She is an artist. A śloka in Sanskrit symbolizes the protective cosmic principle. Gaṇeśa is worshipped at the beginning of every celebration and activity, always as the first. He eliminates all obstacles. The dance is called Puṣpāñjali. In Sanskrit, named for the god Gaṇeśa. Gaṇeśa symbolizes a protective universal principle, which, according to Indian mythology, is worshipped at the beginning of any activity to remove problems and obstacles. We will explain some movements and positions for easier understanding of the meaning of the dance. Gaṇeśa rides on a male mouse. His hands are constantly giving. He has elephant ears, a brahmin string—a symbol of inner purity. He is the son of Lord Śiva. Puṣpāñjali is a flower sacrifice. It’s a dance expression of thanksgiving and honoring all divinities. Choreography, Ucchāl, Tāla (Rhythm), Yati, Rāga (Melody), Nāṭya. Flowers, pravinte, potřelej svoje květiny. Stop the music. So, the other divinities are pleased, blessed in their hearts. Dancers are blessed. The dance of Bhakti Devī. He is endless authentic consciousness. A monument of mercy, created from the worldly bonds. He is the ocean of mercy, endless, but He is His part. Residing in pure hearts, you have arisen from yourself. You are without birth. You have created the moon and the sun. Your symbol is incomprehensible. From your hair, the holy river Gaṅgā springs your endless grace. Save me through the ocean of birth and death. You are absolutely pure, Supreme Parabrahma. You are above the guṇas. You are intact by the five elements. You are peace. You are above worldliness by nature. Your reality cannot be grasped. You cannot be affected. You are endless. You are the fountain, the source of the highest joy. Admirable. By your dance, you keep the rhythm of the universe. You are honored by great saints. The endless universe is your clothing. You have the most graceful heart. You are the source of Mokṣa. My friends are telling us, "Unbelievable, it is not from India." So perfect, nobody can believe it. I would like now to ask Swāmījī for a short talk. There were a lot of us who did not know in advance how that ritual happened, and Swāmījī can explain a little more about it for you. Recently, it was such a blessing to be with Swāmījī together at the Kumbh Melā. I would like to thank you once again, and such actions should be done regularly. My special thanks go to Ms. Bhakti Devī, who beautifully showed here a bit of a dance move. It is very, very special that she came here with us from such a distance, and the event was so successful. On behalf of all my colleagues who took part in this event, I would also like to thank them for the success of the event. Thank you very much. I would like to welcome you here in the name of the Czech Hindu Society, and special thanks to Bhakti Devī. And special thanks to all the people, colleagues, who helped to arrange this event. I will ask for a few words, Mr. Kolvin Dráčku. Finally, that evening he got up. Finally, Śiva got up. It was Mahāśivarātri. He got up. He woke up. He woke up. He went to the temple. He went to Mahāśivarātri. I am so happy that I get this day. I was waiting many days for this celebration, for setting up the temple, and for this great day for us. I am thankful for that. I am sorry I cannot click. This is so beautiful. The word "mandir," which has become the system of today, has been established. There is no need for any other word. It is the mind inside; it is inside the mind, inside the heart. Neither the senses nor the mind are used. All that is needed is to be present and to move the head. And that is the experience. Today, what has started the day of the Mandir, inside of the soul, inside of the senses, inside of mana—mana cannot be translated into English. I don’t know what mana is, in fact. Mana is the energy which drives a man, and that soul, that heart, those emotions, to be inside. That’s a mandir, that’s a temple, that’s a khram, that’s the place. There’s no need of any kind of knowing or techniques. Just close the eyes, be in the mandir, be in the temple, and forget everything. Just become a zero in the mind, be in the soul, be inside. Presence, a presence is a ritual. Such a presence is automatically a meditation. That automatically gives you the power of self-realization. Don’t do anything. There’s nothing to do in the temple. Only be present, mind zero, nothing in the mind. Self-realization gives the person in the temple just a presence. That gives self-realization. It’s very simple. A very unique place. A temple is a very unique place. Any temple, anywhere you go, in the temple you don’t need to do anything. Just stand, close your eyes, make the zero in the mind, open the heart, that’s all. And that place has started, that inaugurated by the great soul Swāmījī. And you cannot imagine a person like Vivek Goja, a great businessman. And you know, the businessman means all the time money, money. Even that man has heart, openly opens. He made zero in the mind, did a meditation. And even for such a person who is a businessman, they never have time; the time is very short, even 24 hours are short. In addition to the cosmic light, Satguru, brothers and sisters, respected Mr. Khurana from the Embassy of India, also the members of the Embassy of India in Prague, the dignitaries. Our dear brother, Vivek Jī Ojha, and my very dear one, Govind, Swāmī Gajaran Jī, Pārvatī Jī. First of all, I pray to Almighty Sadāśiva to bless you with good health, happiness, spiritual development, and long life. Today, this night is dedicated to Śiva. Śiva means consciousness. Śiva means liberation. Śiva means the truth. And Śiva means the love. Śiva means the beauty. Satyam Śivam Sundaram, the mantra. There are many stories about Śiva, and Śiva is one of the most gracious; with a little prayer, he is pleased. And he doesn’t see our mistakes, and he bestows all the blessings. That’s why the Śiva Bhaktas are very happy, because their wishes are fulfilled. Śiva is also known as Bholā Bhagavān. A man is like innocent. Bholā is someone who is simple. So what is that Śiva? He has no father and no mother. It is he who manifested himself. It is an uncreated Brahman, an endless universe. Śūnyākāśa, a void, dark blue space. There’s nothing. No movements. No atoms. There are only three: space, energy, and consciousness. Space is known as the embodiment of the mother. And consciousness within the space, that’s why it’s called the golden embryo, Hiraṇya Garbha. We don’t know where the space begins and where it ends. And it is described as a form of the egg. And within that is that universal One, eternal one. You celebrate Easter, and you have the Easter egg that is coming from the Vedas, the golden embryo. In the motionlessness of that śūnyākāśa, one tendency awakes through energy, that you may call Śakti. Śiva and Śakti do not represent any genders. No. Śakti is the energy of the entire universe. And Śiva is the life, the consciousness. That’s why the Śiva Liṅgaṃ represents the entire universe. You greet the Śiva Liṅgam, you touch the entire universe. There is one tendency. God Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad-gītā, "I am one, and now I will multiply." That’s called divine will. Thy will be done, O Lord. Does God have a wish? Kṛṣṇa said, "Arjuna, in the entire universe, nothing is impossible for me, but still I do the karma, because what I do, they will follow me." Arjuna, time to time I am manifesting myself through my yoga māyā, and that yoga is universal, which is balancing, harmonizing, and keeps the unity, the oneness. Where there is no divine energy, no yoga, there is doubt, anger, jealousy, hate, because it is a symbol of ignorance. Therefore, Śiva first awakened in the entire universe. One without second, that’s called the sound. Within no time, that resonance spread throughout the whole universe. How? For example, a small creature, a mosquito, he bites your small toe, immediately the whole body knows. Without any waiting time. So, in the Vedas it is said, "Nāda," the form of the Supreme Brahman is the resonance. All the musicians, they know what it means; it resonates for them. Like the great master Ravi Shankar, who was playing the sitar. He said his fingers are moving with the universal waves. Only a musician can understand. You give the instrument, and they produce or they create beautiful melody. Everyone falls in deep meditation, like Govinda told you. The resonance is zero; everything is zero. From that resonance manifests a blue light, the blue pearl. And that flame appears, and in that flame, Śiva manifests. That’s why he is known as Svayaṃbhū, where he manifests himself. And therefore only Śiva has the name Mahādev, great God. No others, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa, Rāma, Buddha, no one has this first mahā. Śiva is manifesting Viṣṇu, the Brahmā, and the creation begins. He is vibrating in each and every atom of our body. Before there was no time. Time is created by humans, not by God. Since when the objects or atoms began to be created in the universe, the yogīs saw them, and then they began to count the movement. That became our time. Samādhi. Savikalpa and nirvikalpa samādhi. Savikalpa is with wish or saṅkalpa, and nirvikalpa is without any wish. That time, one becomes one without second, omniscient, omnipresent, beyond time and space. And so that is the universe in the body of Śiva. Then you go in every yuga, Satya yuga, Dvāpar yuga, Tretā yuga, Kali yuga, in all that, Śiva consciousness is observing, and in that Śiva consciousness will destroy the negative energy and create the positive energy. It is Śiva who protected this earth in Satyuga when the ocean was churning. There was a search, a struggle for immortality, for nectar. And there came the fourteen ratnas, the jewels out of that ocean. And first was the poison. No one was ready to take that poison. And if we throw it on the earth, the earth will be destroyed. Śiva took it, he drank, and it stopped in his throat. And through his ujjāyī prāṇāyāma, he digested and neutralized the poison. That’s why his throat became blue. And he is known as Nīlakaṇṭha Mahādeva, the blue-throated god. He protected us. In this Kali Yuga, the atom bomb is that poison now. And when it will be used, the whole Earth will be destroyed. We need the Śiva that can neutralize those poisons. It will come after yugas and yugas, yugas, mantras, kalpas. If you look in your Google Earth about the Vedic time period, you guys, you will be surprised how many trillions, billions of years. Today is the night that Śiva placed a hunter and his family. The hunter, in our vision, is the sinner, who is killing. Those are not killed. The highest principle is non-violence. Bhagavān Buddha, when he went for bhikṣā, even he didn’t wear shoes, and with the Buddhāśrī Mahūna technique, he was observing the path so that he didn’t step on any creature. He led a very pure, vegetarian life. And nowadays, when I see my Buddhist brothers, some eat all and praise the holy words of the Buddha. It’s not in the sin of Buddha. Buddha means the intellect. When Siddhārtha, Prince Siddhārtha, Buddha, when he got enlightenment, it means the intellect was enlightened. Intellect means buddhi. And buddhi, when it is enlightened, is called bodha. Bodha means knowledge. And knowledge is that knowledge where there is no ignorance. So that enlightened consciousness becomes the Buddha. As far as I know, the life of Jesus is a real example of simple living and high thinking. I see Jesus hanging on the cross. He doesn’t have very precious dress. Just like Mahatma Gandhi, one dhoti and one shawl. But we all remember Gandhi, we all remember Jesus. So that is the Śiva consciousness. We are the jīva, the individual soul. And that is Śiva, the universal soul. We are like a drop in the hollow of our palm, held above the ocean of Śiva. And this drop falls into the ocean. The jīva becomes Śiva. And so we made abhiṣeka. It is coming from Yajurveda mantra. Oṁ tryambhakaṁ yajāmahe sugandhiṁ puṣṭi-vardhanam | urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya māmṛtāt || Oṁ tryambhakaṁ yajāmahe sugandhiṁ puṣṭi-vardhanam | urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya māmṛtāt || O Lord Śiva, bless us. Bless vegetation. Let our vegetation be healthy. The aroma of the herbs is supposed to increase. And the Czech Republic is known as a country of honey and milk. And now the fields are poisoned. Bees are dying. If we continue this poison pollution, our children will see the beef only on the school books’ pictures. Our duty is to protect our country, our vegetation, and our environment. So Śiva is not only in me or in you. Each and every atom of this world, these trees, these plants, are nothing but Śiva. So when this jīva goes to Śiva, it becomes one. It’s not only today to make abhiṣeka. Every morning, minimum five times a month, giving the water. Water is the symbol of life. Just like this, where the water is, there is God. And we make purification; this calms down our temperament. So, my dear ones, I didn’t want to take a lot of your time, but I was feeling, what is this Śiva? And he is everywhere. Our consciousness is Śiva. And someone is in a coma, meaning Śiva has again merged into the universe. Even the body doesn’t die. This body is made out of elements. Fire in the fire, water in the water, air in the air, all elements will merge into their origin. Humans are created as protectors, not destructors, and within us we have both qualities, asuras and devas, churning out our meditation and mantra. Try to neutralize negative thoughts and negative qualities, and always use wise, divine words. The great saint Swami Sivananda said, "Within you is the ocean of bliss, and within you is the fountain of joy. Within you is the immortal one. Just kill the little 'I', the ego, and lead a divine life." We are human, and we make mistakes. Animals don’t make mistakes. No animals make mistakes. But we humans make excuses, and we say God is perfect and we are imperfect. We make mistakes. Why? Because that ignorance and negative tendency of asura is forcing us to make mistakes. So keep in your heart only that divine light, that divine joy. Keep Śiva in your heart. I thank our dear brother Vivek Ojha. I don’t know how he produced him within such a short time. I think he is like Sai Baba. He got it from the air. Śivajī. Śivajī. I didn’t get here, he gave me. And he gave to every one of you. I think, what can be greater than this present? Today, your Śivarātri is successful. He is coming to your home. It blesses your home. Keep it with respect and adoration in some beautiful place. Or in your heart. See what will happen by next Śivarātri. But every day, five times in the morning, you have to chant the Mahā-Mṛtyuñjaya Mantra. This is called Mahāmṛtyuñjaya, before you leave your house. Be not loud. When you start your car, start singing the Mahā Mṛtyuñjaya Mantra. It will protect you from accidents. Mahā means the great. Mṛtyu means death. Jaya means victory. Victory over death or troubles, further is your choice. My duty today was to tell you. I feel myself blessed that Bhagavān Sadāśiva, God Śiva, Sadā Śiva, Gaurī Śaṅkar, Mahādev, Svayaṁbhū, he has a thousand names. There is one book, "Thousand Names of Śiva." Viṣṇu had a wish. He had a saṅkalpa, and he wanted to make abhiṣeka. And he wanted to offer one thousand lotus flowers to Śiva, and he got one thousand lotus flowers near him. And he begins to make abhiṣeka, one mantra and then one flower. One mantra and Śiva’s name. A thousand names. Śiva was thinking, "I will test Viṣṇu." What will he do? So Śiva appeared, he manifested it. He took one flower away without Viṣṇu knowing. 999, he made it, and one was missing. Viṣṇu was nervous. Worrying, my saṅkalpa will not be successful. Viṣṇu thought. Some arrow weapon came in his head, and he wanted to take his eye out. Before he brought it near, Śiva called him. Wish to know, your wish is fulfilled. From today on, you will be known as Kamal Nayan. So one of Viṣṇu’s names is Kamalanayana. Kamal means the blood-red gem of the lotus, and Nayan is the eye. Kṛṣṇa’s eyes are like lotus buds. So, my dear, there are many glories. Thank you, Vivek and Govinda, and all our dear brothers and sisters who were helping. And I think this was one of the first and most beautiful Mahāśivarātri celebrations. When the communist time came, the government changed. It can happen in every country. That time, my bhaktas, Czech bhaktas, they were asking, "Swāmījī, we would like to have a Hindu pūjā too." So, with the help of my Bhakta and Pārvatī, we registered this Czech Hindu community, the temple, the mandir. But we were not so active. I spoke with Vivek, and Vivek said, "Gurudev, I will take this task in my hands." And you see, hardly a few months had passed, and he made beautiful success. And also, dear brother, he is sitting, name forgotten again. Your name? Marek. Beautiful name. It is the jewel of the mind, Marek. Like Miss Marek. Beautiful. So thank you for this. Now, in a few days, or two weeks I think, comes a beautiful festival called Holi. Oh my God. Hindus have 99.9% all happy festivals. It’s not only my hand covered, everything will be covered. And I asked Vivek, on the real holy day, make a Holi festival. If I am here, I will come to you, but I will take another place. Because you can throw so many colors. Also, there was a question: should we become a member of this organization? I say, today is only Śiva, and we are all Śiva’s members. And Vivek and Govind and other of his friends, they will sit together and make an organization, how to organize. Thank you very much for coming. Wish you all the divine blessings. Śiva is Sanātana Dharma. Sanātana dharma is, for example, take the orange. When you open the orange, there are beautiful, different parts, the slices of the orange. Only this one is skin. Sanātana dharma is this skin. And all different religions are inside, beauty, tasteful. I wish today that this day should come: no religions should fight against each other, and that we shall work together. We celebrate, we adore all the holy incarnations and holy saints. You are also an incarnation, and every creature is an incarnation. All entities in this world are my Ātmā. Ātmā is Paramātmā, and that is the Supreme One. Man, mandirme, the Govind told you, man or dil. This, within our heart, the heart is the temple of that God, and that God is your Ātmā. But Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa tells in the twelfth chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, Arjuna is asking, "What is better to worship, personal or impersonal God?" Śrī Bhagavān said, "Both are good, but for you, easier is to go through the personal God." Arjuna, it doesn’t matter through which way you will come; finally, I will be meeting you there to welcome my dear side. Happy Śivarātri. Thank you, organizers. Thank you, our dear Bhakti Devī, who danced beautifully. I was surprised how she coordinated every movement. I thought I was also done. It is not with both legs, different sound. I was sitting here and looking at her feet mostly. How is it possible? Here is a different sound, and here is a different sound. That’s art, secret. If you want to learn, you have to go to her. So thank you once more. And I bless you by the name of Sadāśiva. May all be happy. May the whole world be happy. May we all be healthy. Oṁ Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaḥ Sarve Santu Nirāmayāḥ | Sarve Bhadrāṇi Paśyantu Mā Kaścid Duḥkha-Bhāg Bhavet || Especially for Swāmījī, for the music of speech. I hope that you like it here, and you will start to meditate, and you will feel happy. That you will remember this beautiful dance. And the whole night we can meditate, because this is the Śivarātri. And before leaving, there is a lot of prasāda. Please take it. And take also the small gold Śiva statue. Pañcāmṛta. Pañcāmṛta. Pañcāmṛta. Pañc means five, and there are five different kinds of amṛta. Mixed into one mixture, that becomes mahā, you will get one teaspoon, not in quantity, in quality. You drink it, and then you can go. So it will take time to give here. So, two or three will stand there at the gate and give it to you. If you didn’t make Abhiṣeka, you can come and make it. And there are some laddus. How? That’s very good. This is a prasāda. They will distribute it. It will come, eight strong boys, and we’ll move through and give you one laddu. Take it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, and we will try to celebrate all of you.