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Sanatana Dharma Is Universal Principle

A satsang on the Adriatic coast discussing the essence of Sanātana Dharma.

"Everything in the world can be easily acquired, obtained, or had—but not satsaṅg."

"Sanātana Dharma is not a man-made Dharma... Dharma means not only religion, but the religion accepted the Dharma."

A speaker opens a gathering by expressing gratitude for the rare opportunity of satsang in this location. Swami Vivek Puriji then explains Sanātana Dharma as the universal, eternal principle that maintains all nature and life, not a specific religion. He describes it as the inherent duty (dharma) of all elements and beings, the law of karma, and the singular divine principle (Brahman) present in everything, emphasizing living in harmony with nature and one's own self.

Filming locations: Duga Uvala, Adriatic coast, Croatia.

Praṇām Gurudev. Hari Om, dear brothers, sisters, and friends. We have the beautiful opportunity for a real satsaṅg with Swāmījī here in this open space. On the Adriatic coast, it has been very hard to have satsaṅg in the last 50 years; the summer here is usually connected with kusāṅg. Everything in the world can be easily acquired, obtained, or had—but not satsaṅg. Just think how fortunate and lucky we are that we can have satsaṅg here with Swāmījī in such a large number. Yesterday, Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar Swāmī Jāneshwar Purījī told us how hard he tried to study some ślokas, only to later find the answer so easily and understandably in Patañjali. That is really true. The two main truths are: if you do good, you will get good; and if you do what is not good, or bad, you will get bad. He does everything that does not harm anyone, including the Holy Spirit. That is Satsaṅg Dharma. When we compare our tradition—I don't mean our tradition of 50 years of Kusanga on the Adriatic coast, but a much older one, a few thousand years back—that is actually Satsaṅg Dharma. When someone asks, "Why are you accepting foreign ideas?" we are not accepting anything foreign. We are just coming back to our origin, to our roots. Therefore, do not think of this satsaṅg as something that came from India. Look at it as our fortune that we have Swāmījī, that we have that blessing. By that blessing, we are coming back to our origin, to our roots. This origin and those roots are actually Satsaṅg and Dharma. Now we have the opportunity to bathe in the beautiful sun, beautiful air, beautiful sea, and, of course, in the nectar of Gurudev's Satsaṅg. Because of that, I would not like to delay but to use as much time as possible with Swāmījī. Also, when we are alone without satsaṅg, we try to be in satsaṅg—that means in that good society, with good thoughts. All the time we are here, we should use for our spiritual development. When you are alone, when you are not physically in satsaṅg, try to remain in satsaṅg. Try to have good and positive thoughts, and take as much as you can from this real satsaṅg here for your personal time. I will not take any more time now, and we will hopefully again enjoy Swāmījī's satsaṅg. I like to thank Swāmījī again that he came here. As you see, so many wasps and bees are flying around us, and we are like that also. You know that bees follow the queen bee. This summer, we also followed our queen bee, Swāmījī. We had web, India, India, Strelka, and now here Duga Uvala. It is my really great joy and privilege that we can end this summer's cycle of seminars here, and also that Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar Swāmī Ganeśwar Purī is here with us. This retreat is really something that we need for our daily life, especially because our school and business year starts on the 9th of September, which is also Gaṇeśa Caturthī. So I hope that the next year will be full of blessings and without obstacles. Good morning once more. Welcome. Now, you can understand why in the Middle East, in India, in hot countries, women always have the sari over their face. You are not forced to do what you are doing. They are also not forced to do. All uniforms and customs are according to the climate. So this is the main reason to have a turban and have a long cloth sari to cover your face against the burning heat of the sun. So now when you see in the news that the ladies have to cover the face, don't take it as a negative. Also, we are doing here, and all our farmers, they are also covering; women are covering their heads. Feet should be warm and head should be cool. When we have a loose dress, then we don't feel hot because the body is getting moist and air is blowing through, so it's like a film of the humidity and air makes it cool. You go in a sauna, 100, 110, 115 degrees, more sweating, and that automatically gives coolness to the body and doesn't let the temperature go so high. So the costumes are designed according to the climate. So don't worry, cover your face or don't cover; it's your choice. This reminds me, because sometimes people are criticizing certain cultures, especially in our Middle East. Can you imagine? More than 11 months a year, it is like this hot sun. In June, you had a hot June and no rain, and many European countries were alarmed. Crops were drying, trees were dying, and there were fires, so we should understand. Swāmī Vivek Purījī spoke about Sanātana Dharma, and I would like to tell you what Sanātana Dharma is. Sanātana Dharma is not a man-made Dharma. Sanātana Dharma is not a philosophy. Sanātana Dharma is called a universal principle. Dharma means not only religion, but the religion accepted the Dharma. And here again, the Dharma means good principle. This Dharma maintains the entire nature. The tree is Dharma: to grow, give nice cool shadow, and flowers, fruits. This is the dharma of the tree. Dharma of the clouds is to rain. Dharma of the river is to flow. And this work is in the whole universe. The space is working too. Stars, moon, sun, everywhere is called Kriyā. Kriyā means something happening, doing. Dharma, Sanātana Dharma is Ādi Anādi Dharma. Ādi Anādi: it is from the very beginning and endless. In Sanātana Dharma, there is no mention of any incarnation in the name of God. It believes in only one God. That's called Brahman, or the universal one. Literally, you can say, to understand, in Christianity it is said, "the Holy Father," which is not born, never appeared, but it is there. So Sanātana is that principle. Sanātana means relation, related to everything. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad Gītā, "Mame vaso jīva loke." O Arjuna, I live in every creature, and in this jīva loka—loka is this earth, where all creatures are living—so I am in this saṃsāra on this earth. I am living here because each and every entity is my Self. "Mame vaso jīva loke, jīva bhūta sanātana." All Jīvas are Sanātana. Sanātana means my relative, my part, the essence of me. And we say water is life. Sanātana Dharma says, where there is water, there is God. All these five elements are the principles of the Sanātana. Without this, we can't be born. We can't manifest this body, and we can't exist. These five elements are living elements within us. It is said, in the house where you live, there should be five living elements: the earth, not dead concrete. Therefore, we should have some flower pots with living earth. It would be good if your walls are polished, plastered with the natural earth. It is a perfect isolation: when hot, it gives cool, and when it is cold, it maintains and preserves the heat. It gives good breath, even if you don't open the windows. But this gives you good air, good breath. So, the living element Earth should be in the house. In the living room, also water. And we need, when it's very dry, then we put a humidifier, or we hang wet cloth. It's good to have in winter time a water fountain, smaller, or water in some pots. Is it living water? Also, we have candles or oil flames. In old times, they used to cook with wood and fire. They had a fire in their house. There are some paṇḍits, they call Agnihotra Paṇḍita. Some paṇḍits are called Agnihotra paṇḍits. In their house, there is always fire, like a dhūnī. Fire is the presence of God himself, Viṣṇu. And that exists, lives in water. Fire can only exist in the fire. Water—we feel cool, we feel water nice, cold or warm, but inside is that real fire. There are many different kinds of fire: Krodhāgni, the fire of anger; Jāṭharāgni, the digestive fire; Pāvaka vāyu, the wind; Havanāgni, the yajña; Kāmāgni, the passion, etc. There are a lot of different kinds of fire. And that we need, the air, which we get everywhere. You open the window, and air comes in. So where the living elements are there, then we are living beings too. We feel harmony, presence, and oneness. Without that, we can't exist. Ati sarvatra varjayet—too much is everywhere prohibited. We humans don't know the limitations. Therefore, this sanātana principle automatically balances in our body: our body temperature, body movements. Can you imagine when your temperature falls down? Freezing. We will die. If the temperature goes higher than, how much, 38, 37? Then we say, "I have fever, 39, 40, 41," alarm. But it is said when you are in a sauna, your body temperature inside doesn't rise to 41. It rises up when you jump into the cold water. So this is Sanātana. So Sanātana Dharma is not a dogma. Sanātana Dharma says, maintain all of nature. Don't go against nature, otherwise nature will punish you. Mahāprabhujī said in his golden preachings. Vedas say it. Vedas don't speak about God. Vedas don't talk about God nor about religion, but Vedas say live in harmony with nature. Understand nature. Understand the universe: sun, moon. In the Vedas, it is written how old our sun is. How long is the life of the sun? Then another new one will build, so maintaining the seasons, maintaining the life. When a woman gets pregnant, it is the Sanātana Dharma which lets that embryo develop and gives dharma in it. Which kind of dharma? Dharma of the ears is to listen. Dharma of the eyes is to see. Dharma of the joints is to move, perfectly done. The dharma of the nerve systems in our body is the Sanātana Dharma. We need not go anywhere to see what is the Sanātana Dharma. So, what we inhale and exhale is the process of the Sanātana Dharma. So, what have you now against Sanātana Dharma? If you don't like Sanātana Dharma, then jump in the water, hurry home, but that is also Sanātana Dharma. That will take care of your soul, and again, the Sanātana Dharma will try hard to find some other body for you. Therefore, Sanātana Dharma is that we humans should live in harmony. And when you have negative thoughts, when you have restless thoughts, suddenly you are moody, you do not speak, that means there is some kind of imbalance in your brain—that Sanātana Dharma, because of your way of feeling and thinking. Sanātana Dharma feels that you are doing against that principle of Sanātana. The brain is given to function positively and for good. The motor engine is given in the car to function nicely. Then it makes noise, then you have to put it in grease. And when it makes more noise, then you have to tighten the screws. So when someone is always up and down, what do we call? These screws are loose, so that means you have done against the Sanātana Dharma. And that's why immediately you have fear, you have jealousy, you are unhappy, you have depression. You have doubts. You have different visions, different ideas, different thoughts. That's called disbalance, and therefore the mantra chanting OM balances from the Maṇipūra till the Sahasrāra Chakra, all this in harmony. Then the lower part will also harmonize because the message and control are sent from the brain side. And all our jñānendriyas, the senses of knowledge, what we call eye, ear, nose, mouth, and the skin around the whole body. These are the jñāna indriyas. And jñāna indriyas are very close to the brain. Jñāna indriyas are not given down on your foot soles. When you put the shoes on, then your jñāna indriyas cannot see. And karma indriyas are put down, and all desires, passions, and desires are put down to reject all impurities of the body. It is given to the apāna prāṇa, and the prāṇa and upa prāṇa are given more for the higher levels: to the heart, digestion, eyes, ears, etc. So the Sanātana principle has created this world. There is no Brahmā sitting on the lotus flower somewhere near the moon or sun. It is only a mythological picture given. That Viṣṇu is lying in the water. Viṣṇu is a principle of fire, and not some ocean. The salmon, when you give, it is water. Inside is jīva, that's all. And in the embryo, you are like that lotus now. And this lotus is connected to the mother's body. And that mother's body is in the womb. You must know more; if you are a doctor and you are a woman, then you must know better than me. There is water inside, and there is an entire universe of energy inside. The thousands of cosmic engineers are working inside. You don't hear the noise of their tools. No, they are perfect. They have JCB2, bugger. Everything. So if you see this picture, it is like a lotus, and you are connected to the mother's body with the navel. And this navel is connected to the mother's body in the water. So this is that lotus coming from the navel of Viṣṇu. But it is not like that Viṣṇu, what we think. And over there is the brain, the activities, the creativity. That is Brahmā. And then it comes who takes care, brings the consciousness. It is Śiva. So, like this, these are the mythological pictures, just to give us understanding. These are the mythological pictures, just to give us understanding. But can you imagine Viṣṇu lying in the water and suddenly a mushroom grows out? And then, on the lotus on the top, Brahmā is looking: "Who is my creator? Who is my origin?" And he goes to search; he didn't find anything, not even the Viṣṇu. Because there is no existing like that. The universe is endless: Ananta Brahman, endless universe, thousands of sun systems. Ananta Brahman, the Śāstra Sūrya. Where are you searching? Nowhere. Again, you have to come back to thyself. We are happy that at least we can see through Jñāna in there, and we say we are with this one and that one, and we are all together. But when this Jīvātmā will go out of the body, none of us, none of these people will go with us. Maximum, they will bring you to the graveyard. And you will say, "Where are you carrying me? Graveyard." My dear one, my darling, my son, or my husband or wife or mother. I was always with you, and now you put me under the earth. I know you love me very much. Show me your love. Please come and lie down beside me. Will you do this? Then, if it is like that, no one will go to the funeral. Thank you. So, who goes with us? This soul jumps into nothingness. There is the destiny. The wind of destiny and the light of blessing. That's called Guru Tattva, or the curse, the sin that goes in this. There is no one to see, but in that infinity, you see and feel such pain and pleasantness. I would say a million times more than difficult times like in this world. God sent us on this planet, Earth, to go and enjoy in a good way. Ganeśwar was telling yesterday, he is in the garden, Sanskrit. Yes, Sanskrit is a perfect language, great, but you have to be very careful. That is a horse from which many riders fall down. Yes, because the intellect, the philosophy, what is in that, it can make you a complete non-believer. Water is life. Water gives us life, but it can also take life. So when you read, you have to develop Sanātana Dharma in your thoughts, but the sense, a sense of this all. Gurujī said four Vedas and eighteen Purāṇas, four Vedas and six philosophies, and six philosophies. Only two things are written. My God, so thick Vedas book. And you have to read and learn for a minimum of 30 to 40 years. And it is said there are only two sentences. That is the essence, the reality of our day and night is one, the sun and moon. The four Vedas and six philosophies have written two things. If you give someone good things, pleasant things, then you get pleasant things. If you do good, you get good, and if you do bad, you get bad. This is the Brahmavākya of the Sanātana. Then it is said, all the entities on this earth, even bacteria, want to have happiness and pleasure. No one wants the pain and troubles. O human, understand this too. You will master your life. Use to the maximum what God has given you between your two ribs. Otherwise, it will be, how to say, old. The joints are stuck. Yes, the calcium uses your brain, but use it in a good way and supply it at the right time. The petrol or diesel oil, everything—when negative feelings, negative thoughts, ego comes—no, I don't want this. You know how much your brain is suffering? And attacked by that energy, we harm our brain. It creates immense tension to become a little opposite or negative for a little distance from someone. Your brain is completely in tension. In first gear of the car, or two gears of the car, you drive with high speed over the mountain. What is the condition of your engine? Or you make a distance; physically, you may not show it, but internally, you reject. That time, it is that you are driving upside down hill in the curves, and hand brake and pedal brake both are on. And suddenly, the brake fails. It becomes hot. What will be the condition, my dear? In the curve, so this is a curve of life. Maybe for one minute, but this curve will harm your spirituality, your development, etc. There is ambition, the mind, and the intellect. Now the mind has so many desires, and now this desire, ambition: "I have a new car, I am young, I can drive well," and this is your greed or ambition, and your mind says, "Yes, oh good." And somebody is sitting with you, also, a co-driver, the roof is open; this is mostly what young drivers do. And more quickly, quickly, sometimes children tell the father more quickly, "Father, father, father." So inside is sitting someone that is greedy. And the mind said, "Yes, yes." But suddenly, a very sharp curve comes. The mind said, "I'm not responsible." Greed said, "That was not my subject." Intellect says, "I didn't instruct you." Similarly, these are the examples. So, every step we have to take very carefully. Diri, diri, manuva, diri, diri, cava. How many times a day you are moving up and down, up and down. How many times towards your husband, towards your wife, or your neighbors, or your colleagues, or your dog, or your anything? Suddenly, you think it's all stupid. You know how much tension you have in the brain at that time? It's hard with the brain. One man, a young driver, was driving with his wife in a good car on the highway. Suddenly, the radio was announcing, "Attention, at such and such place, one ghost is driving, don't overtake." And this young driver said, "A stupid? What means one? Look how many are coming." That's it. So don't make others foolish. Don't be selfish. Therefore, one Swami used to say, when you smile, there are only six muscles in tension or working, and 64 muscles are relaxed. And when you are like this, then only this part is a little bit relaxed down, but all 64 muscles are in tension, including your mūlādhāra. Chakra is burning. That time, the kuṇḍalinī śakti is making coil rolling backside, and heart beats are suffering. The heart counting is suffering, so our mood harms our brain, our heart, and the solar plexus, and the spiritual development. These are against sanātana dharma. When you cause pain to someone, when you kill some creatures, you don't feel the pain of that one. Maybe you think of your food, even the fire-living creature in the hot water. Did you ever imagine or think if someone puts you in this fire or in the hot boiling water? Even a little finger touches the fire, we say, "Oh, God." So, those are the two words. That is that if you give trouble, you will get trouble. And if you save someone and give goodness, then you will get goodness. These are the instructions and principles of the Sanātana Dharma. There was no one sitting and writing there, but the ṛṣi said, "It is the law of the universe, balancing, harmonizing. Let it function positively." So this is what we, when we speak Sanātana Dharma, we don't speak about one religion. Religion is based on the principles of the Sanātana Dharma. And of course, every religion is very good; no religion is bad. Bad is that we don't understand. And we do negative, or we make some compromises. But in the Dharma, there is no compromise. In quality, no compromise. Now we are doing some human compromises. We replace the heart, we replace the kidneys, this is a little compromise, but Sanātana is saying, "How long, oh man, how long?" So man tries to create something, what we call immortal. So now two are immortal: one is the ātmā, this is God-made or Sanātana, and second, there is one immortal made by man, and there is plastic. Plastic we cannot destroy anymore. That ātmā is divine, immortal, pleasant, and bliss. For everyone, but this plastic immortal one, plastic ātmā, that is very destructive. So, Devīk Śakti and Āsurīk Śakti. Devīk Śakti is the Sanātana. And Āsurīk Śakti is the pollution. And this pollution is born out of the human brain. Because humans misuse the brain in the wrong way, the principle of the fire is to burn everything. That is the dharma of the fire. So we throw some papers and dry grass inside. Whatever we throw, the fire doesn't say, "Oh, don't do this." If you throw, if you put 100,000 euros in the fire to make the fire, the fire will not tell us, "Oh, take... Care, take care of the euros, money, money." There is no compromise. So, if you do good karma or bad karma, everything is taken, but finally you have to be sorry, or you have to suffer. But in the end, you either suffer or pay a high price. So, you should always be happy. When unhappiness comes on your face, you are torturing yourself. Not only this, you are creating darkness for your future. Therefore, it is said, in which condition and in which situation you are, say the name of God. And be happy. Smile. It's only sun, hot, that's all. And if it's a cold wind, we will again be taking so many clothes. I'm not this body. It's very easy. And who is speaking, saying, "You now, this sitting in a nice shed, so it doesn't matter in the sun or in the shade. We should be happy and sing. You should be satisfied and happy." Jat pant kī śaṅkar na mane, samān pata rahī, Rāmajī. Jat pant kī śaṅkar na mane, samān pata rahī. Tena loka kī īśa nahī, nahī sukha binā śarīra divānā, satguru na makāma sthāna helī. Vepara vapa kirtivana, Satta-guruna-makamastana hevi. Nahi kisi ki shanka mane, Kyara-jaranka-vajira-vajira kya rājarāṅkā bhajīn. Bhūkha pyaasā pārvāḥ nāhi, rākē pārvā jogē hār. Gāmbīr divānā sata-gurū-nāma-kāma-sthāna-helī. Vē pārvāḥ pākīr divānā sata-gurūna-makāma-sthāna hēvīn jīvatahi murgāsaṁ hreve nāhi siddhā nāhi pīrāma jīvaṁ nāhi murgāsaṁ hreve nāhi siddhā nāhi pīrāma jīvaṁ. Nāhi murgāsaṁ hreve Svāmī-dīpā-vadhūtā-valiyā Mahā-virānā-karhi-dīvānā Satta-gurū-nāma-kāma-sthāna-helī Bepalva, Opakir, Divana, Satguru, Namakama, Stana, Heli. Om Siddhit Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī je happy? So, our dear Swāmī Vivek Purījī is understanding the Sanātana Dharma, and he made a website, Sanātana Dharma. So you should read more on this. I hope you understood what I mean, Sanātana. So there is no personal God. Because God is only one. In Hindu religion, we believe in one God. That's called Brahman. But different incarnations are representing him. Like one family has ten family members. We love all ten, but in reality, it is one family. Similarly, there is only one universal God that is called Brahman. You may call it Brahman or Allah. There is no picture of Allah. No statue of Allah, but we all pray to Allah. Whom do we pray to? Where is He? If you understand, then He is with you. He sees us, He hears us. Only we cannot see Him with material eyes. Holy Father, do you see Him somewhere? We see mostly Jesus. And all His followers are the religious leaders. But they are representing, bringing the message of the Father. So, maximum we make a light, and that light is representing the Brahman, perhaps. So, everywhere is a candle or some lamp. And according to this Sanātana Dharma, the ṛṣis who realized through their meditation wrote down the instructions. And different religions took the different words they liked. So all is from one. And so Gurujī's picture is moved away because today is not a birthday. One in all and all in one. So, all the best.

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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