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Part 1: A Welcome and Reflections on Inner Silence Hari Om. Dear yoga friends, brothers and sisters around the world, I warmly welcome all of you here to Gurujī’s āśram for our first seminar in a very long time. I believe our last seminar here without Swāmījī was in 2009, and we are very happy that Swāmījī is now here to give us his wisdom, his light, his knowledge, and his love. I would also like to welcome Mālā Gunther Hürdeckammer. She recently had a hip operation, everything went very well, and it is like a new life with a new leg. We are happy you are here. Furthermore, I understand that our dear Umā Purī has taken Sannyāsa Dīkṣā. My own knowledge is not sufficient to explain the different levels within Sannyāsa, so I would like to ask our dear Swāmījī to tell us a little more about these different levels for those interested in the path of a sannyāsī. I also wish to share a personal experience. Yesterday, Swāmījī spoke beautifully about inner silence. I recall an experience from last year during a seminar in Strelky. During morning meditation, I found it difficult to go deeper. Then, a very clear and loud inner voice arose and told me: "You are too polluted. That is the reason you cannot hear me. You speak all the time with your thoughts and with your mind." This experience came to mind yesterday during Swāmījī’s lecture on inner silence. The voice was very clear, saying I make too much noise with my thoughts and wishes, and that is why I cannot hear the inner silence. One could also say there is a lack of inner purity; it feels a little dusty inside. I wish you all a wonderful seminar, beautiful experiences, a wonderful time with your yoga friends, and especially with the love, light, and wisdom of our beloved Swāmījī. Thank you. Part 2: The Shelter of Grace Whom God wishes to protect, no one can kill. Even if the whole world stands against you, they cannot harm a single hair on your head if God is your protector. Consider a simple iron chimney with a log of wood burning inside. The thin wood catches fire like a matchstick. This brings to mind a beautiful poem by the great saint Kabīr Dās. One day, Kabīra, a Bhikṣuk saint, was going for alms. He saw a woman grinding grain into flour between two millstones. She put in a handful of grain, and as the stones turned, the grain was completely ground into powder. Kabīra watched and tears streamed from his eyes. He cried, "Oh God, nothing remains whole between these two stones." The poem says: Chaltī chakkī dekh kar diyā Kabīra roi—Kabīr began to cry upon seeing the grinding mill. Do pāṭhan ke bīch mein, sabat bachā na koī—Between the two stones, nothing remained intact. Someone then told him, "No, some grains did remain completely untouched." Kabīra hadn't seen this. He went with this person and asked the lady of the house, "May we sift through your flour?" She agreed. They examined the mill. One stone plate is fixed below, the other rotates above. A hook or wooden rod connects them, balancing the upper stone. By adjusting this rod, one can make the flour fine or coarse. When they removed the flour from around this central rod, they found grains that had fallen there, untouched by the grinding stones. All the other grains that went to the sides were ground, but these, near the central axis, remained whole. The Master said, "This is Saṃsāra." This is called Māyā and Brahmā. Māyā is the illusion, the worldly troubles. We live in this Māyā and cannot remain untouched by it; somewhere we become angry, somewhere we acquire black spots. The Jīva (the individual soul) is in Māyā, and Brahmā is the Supreme. The two grinding stones represent this. The Jīva is the lower stone, Brahmā is the upper. Whoever is touched by the lower stone of Māyā will be crushed. But that central hook or rod between them is called Guru Śaraṇa, or God. When you surrender to God, this Māyā has no power to destroy you; it cannot crush you. You will remain as fresh as new. The body will change, thoughts will change, experiences and situations will change, but that inner essence will remain as pure as it is. The five Tattvas (elements)—fire, water, earth, air, and space—each have their own principle, their Dharma. Dharma means obligation, duty, principle. The principle of fire is to burn. Water can save our life, and water can take our life. Between Brahmā and Māyā, there is only that. For us, there is one hope, and that is God. That woman ground grain for an hour and a half, just as we exercise in our yoga with Sarvahitāsana, a grinding motion. In those days, women were strong; they had beautiful, muscular bodies. The husband might be afraid, handing everything to his wife, saying, "My goddess, please bless me." There are two sides, woman and man, like the two millstones. They perform their Karma here, but between them, in their Ātmā, that Ātmā is God. You are always doing Ātmā Cintan, which means contemplating: "What is God and what am I?" Do not separate yourself from God. If you separate yourself and God, then there will be a problem. You belong to God. God is in you, and you are in God. That is the reality. Within you is your father and mother; you cannot be here without them. Similarly, within us is that God. Without Him, no creature can exist. So, do pāṭhan ke bīch mein, śabda bachā na koī—between the two stones, no word remained intact. But the Master showed his disciple: look, Śaraṇa, refuge. Therefore, there is a Bhajan: "Śaraṇ Tumharī, Cintā Merī Miṭā De"—O Lord, I seek shelter at Thy holy lotus feet; remove all my worries. Our worry is limited and weak, but God's strength is infinite. I listened to a few words from the new Pope. He said, "God is never tired while giving blessings to us. Only we are tired from praying." God is never tired because He is endless energy. He dwells in each and every blood cell, in the entire body. Our Grand Master Devpurījī said that God takes upon Himself the destiny of the devotee. Parents and Gurudev take upon themselves the worries and destiny of their children or devotees. The Dharma of these five elements: if an element does not show its principle, its Dharma, we cannot call it by its name. We would call it a fake fire—like in films where actors walk through colored cloth that looks like flames. That is not real fire. A real fire is a fire. Similarly, a real Bhakta, a real practitioner, a real disciple, one who is honest on the path, will face many troubles because in this Kaliyuga, the Āsurī Śakti (negative power) is stronger than the positive power. But if you constantly hold on to God, no one can destroy you. Positive thinking is needed. Even if someone has made big mistakes, understand it was a mistake. Do not hate the person. As Gandhījī said, hate the sin, not the sinner. This is a test of our strength in this world and in this Māyā. Sometimes things are done purposely, and you do not know what is true. So be careful what you think. Your thinking will support your inner feelings and senses. It will awaken your dormant energy. If you think positive, it will lead you to positive outcomes. If you think negative, sooner or later it will lead you to negative things; it will attack you back. Kare gā so hī bhare gā—as you sow, so shall you reap. Therefore, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna: "Your duty is only to perform action. Act, but I will give the fruits, the judgment, the result." Do your duty; God will give the fruits. This is the teaching of the Bhagavad-gītā, and it is universal. Humans are highly developed creatures with great knowledge, abilities, and facilities. We are clever and know how to protect ourselves, what to eat, and how to live comfortably. Yet, we are more ill than other animals—afflicted with all kinds of flu, infections, and problems. Animals have immunity and strength. Where has our strength gone? The way we think is making us ill. Everything attacks our energy body, our astral body, and that attraction is our Karma, our deeds. There are four kinds of Karma we can perform: through body (tan), mind (man), words (bachan), and through our social or material power, our wealth. Wealthy countries attack poor countries, supplying this and that. Wealth, money, is a great energy. It is not easy to master. Let me share a story, and then we will conclude. A man studied philosophy in Vārāṇasī, the center of knowledge, for forty-five years. He became a great learned person, very gentle and pure. He would only eat food he cooked himself. He traveled and came to a village where a farmer, who had never been to school, asked him a question: "Sir, who is the father of sin?" The scholar said he would answer in one year. He searched all his books and philosophies but found no answer. As the year neared its end, he was passing through a town, looking sad. A lady of questionable character saw him and sent her servant to ask why he was sad. He explained his dilemma. The lady said she could give him the answer practically, not just theoretically. She offered him hospitality for ten days, with her servant to cook for him. The scholar refused at first, insisting on his vow of self-cooking. The lady then instructed her servant to offer him twenty-five gold coins to eat the food she prepared. Greed (Lobha) arose in him, and he accepted, breaking his vow (Saṅkalpa). After he ate, the servant took the plate away and explained: "My boss says to tell you that the father of sin is greed. You broke your vow due to greed." The scholar realized the truth. He had not found this in any book, but in a simple, practical lesson. In yoga philosophy, it is said: Lobha (greed), Krodha (anger), Moha (delusion), and Ahaṃkāra (ego) are the roots of sin. The root of Dharma is Satya (truth); the root of sin is Lobha. When people in the temple were playing with gold, Jesus said, "Do not believe in this false gold. I am the way to God." Follow the words of the Master. Our life is successful when we adopt certain principles—without pride, without ego, without considering ourselves special. If you can give up one negative thing, you will never produce negative thoughts and Vṛttis within you. In one year, you will see how happy and divine you feel. It is not easy. Some people are trouble-makers; if they cannot cause trouble, they cannot sleep. They nourish negative energy, which will have negative effects. If you drink poison, it acts as poison. If you drink nectar, it acts as nectar. You cannot remove your Dharma entirely. Your body has its Dharma. Each of us has desires, hunger, and feelings. We live in this body of elements, and the elements have their Dharma. When these elements are no longer active and lose their Dharma, that is the end of the body. All five elements must act in balance. To protect them, hundreds of functions occur in the body, which a doctor can explain through blood tests, showing what is missing. This body has its Dharma; we should use it, not abuse it. We live in this world, in this body, which is our world. As one Mahatma said in a beautiful Bhajan: "Tu kāya nagarka rājā"—You are the king of the city of your body. Man, indriya terī prajā—Mind and senses are your subjects. Mat kar iskī gulāmī—Do not be their slave. Rājā Antaryāmī—O King, you are the inner God. Tomorrow, we will see how, while living in this body, we should keep our thoughts elevated. This was a little introduction today. I wish you all the best, my dear brothers and sisters around the world. God bless you all. Om Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Devīśvar Mahādeva Mādhava Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān Sanātana.