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Part 1: The True Aspirant and the River of Knowledge Good morning to everybody. You are most welcome. Our sādhanā begins. It is said that one should not need to be reminded to perform their sādhanā or their duty. In every aspect, if you work for a company, they should not need to constantly remind you to work. You are aware of your duty; that is a kind of dharma. If you are not doing it, then you are making a karmic mistake because the company pays you. And if the company pays you, then you should have interest, and according to your ability and knowledge, you should work honestly. Those who do not follow these principles will be told by the company, "We don’t need your work," and they will be sent home. Nowadays, there are many problems, economic and in every department; people are reducing workers. But they research which worker is honest, punctual, and disciplined. Those workers will remain, but others will be sent home. Similarly, we have our sādhanā. We have all come this weekend from far distances. Of course, to see each other, for Guru Dev Darśan—Dhan Ho—for darśan of Mahāprabhujī, Devapurījī, Gurujī; we are fortunate ones to always have darśan. But at the same time, you must have interest in your spiritual development with that discipline. When you are here and you do not come and attend the programs, and are just worshipping outside, it means you have lost your spiritual thirst. Therefore, only coming when the teacher arrives is too little. This is the real Jijñāsū. Jijñāsu means the aspirant who truly wishes to achieve something. Jijñāsu belongs to the Śabdabhūmikā, the seven levels of consciousness, which are also Satsaṅg. Without being a jijñāsu, you cannot attain anything. When you are thirsty, you seek water. When you feel cold, you seek warm clothes or make a fire. If you are hungry, you search for food. This inner urge is jijñāsā. You are thirsty; we can say you are a jijñāsu for water. Search for that water, and you will definitely get it and quench your thirst. That is physical. Then there is the mental or spiritual jijñāsā: to know the truth, that one, Brahma, Satya, Jagat, Mithyā. To attain that ātma-jñāna, which should grow day by day. Gurujī has written a beautiful bhajan, which many of you know: Prem kā pyālā hari, kab merā bharse. Prem means love. Love means that jijñāsā. Love means searching for that knowledge. Love means God. Love means achievement. Love means to cross the ocean of ignorance. Without the fulfillment of that love, you cannot cross the ocean of ignorance. So, Prem. Prem is that which is in the whole universe. Pyālā means the bowl, a pot, a vessel. Prem kā pyālā hari, kab merā bharse—"Oh Lord, when will you fill my pot of love?" This means that knowledge, that fulfillment, that completeness, pūrṇa jñāna. We always sing this mantra, pūrṇam adaḥ. We know the meanings, but we still do not have pūrṇatā (fullness). When a few drops come into your pot, you may think you have everything. That is not everything. So, jijñāsu, uttam jijñāsu (the excellent aspirant). Therefore, in a bhajan, Śivānanda jī said beautifully: "All the holy places are complete in the presence of the Gurudev." All holy places, wherever they are, in any country. Why are they holy? Because some holy saint lived there. Some holy saint walked there, and the touch of the holy saint’s feet to that soil remains ever holy, because that is called immortality, the amṛta. Like the four places where the Kumbh Melā takes place. That was from the time of the Satyuga, millions of years ago. But still, we believe in that particular constellation. That nectar is there, and even without the Kumbh Melā time, the nectar is still there. It does not disappear. Guru charno mein 68 tīrtha hai, wo veda purāṇa mein gāte hain. In the Vedas, Purāṇas, and other Śāstras, there is a glory, the glory of those great saints or holy persons, ṛṣis, sādhus, and even householders; the ṛṣis were householders. They had families, but they had discipline and sādhanā. Then, after that, Uttam Jijñāsu āte hain—those who go there to have the shelter of the Gurudev. Uttam Jijñāsu. Uttam is the best one, the best student who has a real thirst for knowledge. Uttam Jijñāsu, the aspirant, a seeker who seeks that immortality. Uttam Jijñāsū āte haiṁ, wo jñāna Gaṅgā mein āte haiṁ. Gaṅgā is the name of the river. Gaṅgā was holy; she came from Brahmaloka for the sake of this Kali Yuga. She went to Brahmaloka, and again Brahmā told her to come back. She said, "Why, Holy Father? I do not want to go there." But he said, "For the sake of the Kali Yuga prāṇī, the creatures, you have to come. Then I will call you back." So, according to the Mahāśivapurāṇa and many granthas, it is written that one day Gaṅgā will return. And that is what is happening. In Kaliyuga, people are blocking her flow, making dams, polluting everything. In this condition, she cannot stay here. But she is the elder sister of Pārvatī. Gaṅgā is the daughter of Himālaya, the king of the Himalayas. The king of the Himalayas is known as Śiva because that holy seat is the seat of Śiva. That holy seat is Mount Kailāś. From there is the Sanātana Dharma. So, Uttam Jijñāsū āte hain, wo jñāna Gaṅgā mein āte hain. That Gaṅgā, in whose water we bathe, is said to wash away our sins. Every day we are getting polluted by our thoughts—physically, mentally, emotionally. We always make some mistakes, so every day we need to wash them away. At least once a week, you should take a shower. It does not matter how much you run and sweat. Once a month or once a week is a problem. I heard that in France and many countries, people were only using perfumes, not bathing. It is good to take a shower twice a day, if not more. That is called self-respect. What is the difference between ego and self-respect? If you wear clean clothes, if you use a little good aroma, it is not ego. You are not using it for yourself; you are using it to respect others. The one who stands or sits beside you should not have an unpleasant smell. So we have to wash ourselves. Similarly, karmic pollution grows every day. So do not think that once you take a dip in the Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Sarasvatī, or at Mahākumār, Malayalabad, Haridwar, or wherever, that you are liberated. You can think so, but it is not true. You have to go again and again; that means purification. Similarly, the best Gaṅgā for us is satsaṅg. So the uttam jijñāsu comes in and sits in satsaṅg. When a preacher, a spiritual person, teaches or speaks, that purifies our mental, emotional, and intellectual pollution. You may hear the same words every day. Why not? The water you wash with is the same each day. It is not that one day the water is green, another day red, and today yellow. Jñāna is always pure, even if you hear the same word. To read your Bible at home, or to go to church and listen from the mouth of a priest with all the people in that place, has another, spiritually beautiful effect on you. You have holy books at home. You have the Gītā, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Upaniṣads, and many other books. You can read and think you know. And that is the mistake many, many aspirants and seekers make. They read a book and think, "Oh, this is the best one. This is like that. What Swāmījī said is okay, but this is good." Many miss their path; they go in the wrong direction. You can read, but you do not understand, and if you understand, it is not there anymore. It is a test. That same holy book, or same grantha—be it the Vedas, Upaniṣads, Purāṇas, Rāmāyaṇa, Bhagavad Gītā, Qur’ān, Bible, etc.—contains many holy sayings from great saints. But when it is spoken by someone who has this spiritual energy inside, it purifies our inner consciousness. So the best Gaṅgā is the Jñāna Gaṅgā. In Jñāna, all three are inside; where there is no Prema, there is no Jñāna. And where there is Jñāna, that is Sarasvatī. So Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī—these are all three. That Gaṅgā is the Jñāna coming out of the Sarasvatī. So all these three rivers—Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Sarasvatī—are flowing here now in the satsaṅg. There, Jñāna comes out of the Gaṅgā. There, the best Jijñāsu comes out of the Gaṅgā. Guru charno mein 68 tīrtha hai. And how does that Gaṅgā flow? Who brings it? Anubhava banī āte hai. Anubhava. Gurujī said there are two kinds of knowledgeable or wise people. One is the lakṣārthī and one is the vācārthī. Lakṣārthī means one who has made the saṅkalpa, the aim. Lakṣya means our aim, our destination. Then we go towards our destination. Nothing should attract us. There should be no temptations. No temptation can take you away. So lakṣa, the aim, the goal. This life is a journey to our aim, to our destination. Yesterday we all went… we were in many cities. Until we came to our destination, that station, we automatically got out. If you had gotten out before, you would not have reached the place we wanted to go. So we had our Lakṣya, our destination. We walked, we waited, we went into the train, we came to that station, we got out, and then we went to see those beautiful 11 trees. Our dear Hemvati Liyane made it so beautiful, and it is a sign of all the planets. You need not go somewhere to see that planet in the sky; you can see it there. So this was a Lakṣya. We saw it, we came to it, we were happy. Similarly, Lakṣārthī have ātmajñāna. And when you get ātma-jñāna, do not say that you have ātma-jñāna. Do not tell others that you have these experiences and now you know everything, that you know better than this one. You may know, but leave it. When you say you know better than another, it means you do not know now. That flame light, the jñāna jyoti, is gone from you; you have blown it out. So a great person never says, "I am great," or "I know, and I can do, I can teach you." Those are empty words. Do not follow that. Once in London, I was driving with someone. In front, a car was driving, and written on the back window was: "Don’t follow me, I’m also lost." So there are some people who think they are Mahātmās, that they know everything. With this attitude, if you are like that, you will not speak. A diamond does not say, "I am a diamond." Milk does not say, "I am milk." So, Lakṣārthī, who makes it their destination to reach and achieve, how do they do it? You can walk, have a bike, go with a horse, car, ox cart, train, or helicopter or aeroplane. That is your way, how you want to go. Some take a long time, some a short time, but you… We got many experiences on the way. There were many trees, many parks when we were sitting in the train, but we did not get off. Maybe some park is more beautiful, nicer. But we made our destination that one. So Gurujī said, Lakṣārthī should make a decision like you all did. You spend your holidays, your free weekend. You told your family, "Please, may I go? Thank you, husband," or "Thank you, wife, dear one, children. I will come back." You did not just say, "I’m going." And the husband said, "I don’t understand anymore." So you have to inform, get agreement, permissions, a "Yes, that’s good." Also, you spend your money, you create pollution through petrol, driving, everything. But you came here because you are a jijñāsu. A good thing would be, whenever you come to the program, you should keep mauna, silence. And no one keeps Mauna. Every time I am telling, and people are talking and talking. As soon as I go out, people are talking. When I just step in the door, they are already saying, "Swāmījī is here." So, Swāmījī will be seen by everybody when they open their eyes. So, mauna, silent, and that silence is indescribable. That is peace. Do not hurry, slowly. So, uttam jijñāsū āte hain, wo jñāna gaṅgā mein āte hain, vahān anubhava banī āte hain. So one is lakṣya, lakṣārthī, the spiritual aim. The second is vācārthī. Vācārthī means a reader. We call them bookworms in the library. Bookworms go to the library. "Okay, today Swāmījī spoke about Lakṣārthī, let’s see what the book in the library says, what that tells, what that Swāmī said, what that holy man said." You want to make sure whether what Swāmījī said is correct or not. So again, doubt. Doubt is like lemon in milk. It will give you good paneer (curdles it). It will not give you good butter. That is it. Doubt is not good. So Vācārthī reads the books, reads the books, and now explains everything intellectually. Lakṣārthī is the real food served to you, and now you can eat; you are hungry. This is Lakṣārthī. And Vācārthī shows you pictures of which food would be good, with PowerPoint. That PowerPoint is beautiful, but so what? How? It does not help our stomach. That is why someone said: tons of theory are nothing compared to a gram of practice. You are very hungry, and you take one nut to eat. That also has meaning for the stomach. But you show it all and take it back again. You create more appetite. The stomach makes a sound. Why does the stomach make a sound? It says, "We are ready. Please bring something." There are some workers who are working with a saw. So, uttam jijñāsu and lakṣārthī. So, where? Where is the holy shelter? Vahā, there comes Lakṣārthī. Anubhava. Anubhava means experience. Anubhava means you realized, you sowed, you tasted it—what kind of fruit this is, which taste it has. Everything that you have is anubhava. A very simple example: now in the forest here in Europe, the Vienna Woods or any woods, many mushrooms grow. Those who have no knowledge should not touch these mushrooms. But who knows? Those who have experience can tell, "Yes, this is a good mushroom, you can eat." Otherwise, you eat twice: first and last. Then your anubhava is so good that you sleep forever. That is called ever-resting. So the sant, they are anubhāvī. It does not matter how they speak or which words they use; they are authentic words which go directly. These seeds, these words, the vākyas of such an anubhava person, grow in the field of our heart. We have to cultivate and take care of them with the water of love and with the care that other bugs do not come and destroy them. Part 2: The Danger of Bad Association and the Power of Truth A kuśaṅga is a bad association. It can occur by looking somewhere, reading something, or talking to someone. From such associations, experiences (anubhav) are formed, and one hears the discernment of truth (satya vivek). We spoke about Satya—the Śeṣa Nāga. What is the Śeṣa Nāga? Śeṣa means 'that which remains'. When you make an accounting of expenditures and incomes, what remains is the śeṣa. Similarly, when we see all the troubles in this mortal world and search through everything, we finally find one thing that remains: the truth, satya. Our Gurujī said, "Satya patha chalana," that satya is Brahman, the world is mithyā (illusory). That is the essence. The earth is balanced on the Śeṣa Nāga’s head. This means our world, all creatures and humans, survive only by one truth: God. When we can no longer continue and there is no one to hear or help us, we again turn only to God. At that time, prayers and callings come from a heart where the jīvātmā says, "I have nowhere to go for help. No one is mine." Mahāprabhujī said: Sāc pakad bhajā sāyīn, duniyā mein terā koī nahī. Believe that truth is God, and meditate and pray to that God. Saach pakad bhaja saayin—saayin is God. Duniya mein apna koi nahi—in this samsāra, no one is ours. You know the story from the Mahābhārata. A time came when no one could help Draupadī. All the mighty warriors were sitting there, bound by obligation. Everyone was sad, but no one dared to stand and say, "Stop." They brought Draupadī and wanted to disrobe her. She knew that all who were sitting there were no longer alive; they were dead bodies. You can listen, but you cannot act. You let the Rākṣasas do what they want, afraid to say no. It means you have no life inside. She said, "They are all dead people. What should I ask from a dead body?" They were all victims of death in the Mahābhārata. Finally, she had only one hope: God, Kṛṣṇa. "Hey Govinda, hey Gopāla," she called. Within no time, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa supplied so much cloth that Duśāsana, pulling and pulling, became completely exhausted. Not one centimeter of her body was uncovered. That is when God comes. Do not think God has forgotten us. He has not. He is with us. But the longing (jijñāsā) and devotion (bhakti) must be there. In the Mahābhārata, there was Śiśupāla. He was very bad, against Viṣṇu, like a rākṣasa. Śiśupāla came to a meeting and spoke against Kṛṣṇa, who was present. Others asked, "Kṛṣṇa, why don't you do something?" Viṣṇu said, "Yes, I have my limitation." They said, "What? God has limitations?" He replied, "Yes. Even God is bound to the law, to the law he promised. He cannot take action before it reaches that border." It is like when someone troubles you and you go to the police. They say, "We can't do anything unless he puts a knife in your stomach." That is their limitation. It means, "Please, don't let it come to that." Kṛṣṇa was counting Śiśupāla's sins; a few were left, and he was completing them. When the humiliation and bad words against Viṣṇu were complete, Viṣṇu said, "Okay." The border had come, and the Sudarśana Cakra appeared. Who gave the Sudarśana Cakra to Viṣṇu? Once, Viṣṇu decided to chant the thousand names of Śiva, offering a lotus flower for each name. Śiva, wanting to give him something, took one flower away. Viṣṇu became nervous—he had promised one thousand. Śiva appeared and said, "Viṣṇu, you are known as Kamal Nayan." Kamal means lotus, Nayan means eyes. His beautiful eyes are like a lotus bud. Śiva said, "To fulfill your saṅkalpa, your anuṣṭhāna—one flower is missing, so your anuṣṭhāna cannot be completed. When you go to a summer seminar, you make a kriyā anuṣṭhāna. After two days, you relax and don't do it properly. That is why your anuṣṭhāna doesn't complete. You hurry because the speaker will begin. 'Om, Om...' You didn't finish. Do one thing, Viṣṇu. Your anuṣṭhāna is not complete. Why don't you offer your one eye, your kamal nayan, your lotus eye?" One who has desire, love, and longing is ready to offer anything. Viṣṇu concentrated, prayed, and an arrow came to his hand to take out his eyeball. Śiva held his hand and said, "Viṣṇu, your saṅkalpa is completed. For this one lotus, I give you the Sudarśana Cakra. You will need it very much." Thus, the Sudarśana Cakra was given to Bhagavān Viṣṇu by Bhagavān Sadāśiva, Mahādev. When Śiśupāla humiliated everything and the border came, Viṣṇu took the Sudarśana Cakra. The Cakra only functions when it is correct; otherwise, Viṣṇu could throw it and nothing would happen. Everything has its border, its limitations. The Sudarśana Cakra went from his finger, and by God's grace, his finger was slightly hurt. Blood came. Everyone looked and saw Kṛṣṇa's injured finger. They ran to find a plaster, but Draupadī, standing beside him in a precious dress, immediately tore her sari and wrapped his finger. Kṛṣṇa looked at Draupadī and said, "Draupadī, you have bound me. Now I owe you. When the time comes, for each thread of this sari, I will give you a million, a billion times." Kṛṣṇa purposely let the blood come. He knew he had to help Draupadī at that time. There must be a reason. He saw what would happen to her and where she would need help. When she called, "Hey Govinda, hey Gopāla, hey Mādhava, hey Kṛṣṇa, hey Murāri," immediately the cloth came. So what promise, what blessing, what words has God given to us, through our holy saints and Gurudev? Do not say it is not full or that it is empty words. They are not empty words, my dear. Time will come, and time will show. It is said that Ānubhav Bāṇī—those who have these experiences come and give us instructions. We follow, and our success is there. We cannot cross a great ocean like the Atlantic by swimming with our arms (bhujabala). You cannot swim thousands of kilometers. But a boat can help you cross. Gurū Nānak Sāhib said the name of the Gurudev is the boat. Those who sit in it will cross this ocean. If we practice with that confidence, that jijñāsā, guru pāru tāran har—the Gurudev will bring you to the shore, will let you cross. This saṅkalpa, this sādhanā which you accepted and began so many years ago—do not neglect it. Otherwise, you will lose what you have done. For what have you lost such precious spiritual progress? You blocked it, you stopped it. It will not come again in this life. As Hari Gurujī said: Manuṣya janam amolak hīrā, bār bār nahīṁ pāī. The human life is a very precious diamond. You will not get it again and again. A wise one with discernment (viveka) will not miss this. Those with clouds of ignorance and ego will miss everything. Then you may become a horse on a Slovakian farm, carrying a plow, or a cow in a shed, giving milk, eating grass—no luxury, no destinations. That is how one goes through karmas. This practice is what we are doing. Yoga in Daily Life, as Jñāneśvar said yesterday, means practicing every day. I think—not from ego or pride—that our paramparā and our system, Yoga in Daily Life, is so rich. We have everything: all sādhanās, all techniques. But we need someone who really wants to do it. Half-half is not possible. Either we do it, or we don't. Do not think, "Better than nothing." Yes, it is better than nothing. You will have good digestion, good muscles, relaxation, a little peace. But that is not our aim. You shall practice this Kriyā, Brahmavidyā Kriyā, which we learned in summer in Vaipā and in Strelokki: to awaken and become more conscious of the Maṇipūra Chakra. I explained in Strelokki and Vaipa how the radiance goes to different parts of the limbs. When you do Yoga Nidrā or relaxation—even after every third or fourth āsana, where you lie down and your teacher says, "Relax the whole body"—try this: go to Maṇipūra, to the navel. Immediately, relaxation will become deeper and best. But as a yoga teacher, you should not tell this to others. If you have heard it from me and learned it, you should do it yourself, but not instruct others. A yoga teacher, out of compassion (dayā) or duty (dharma), might begin to speak without thinking. Please do not give the instruction of that technique to any students like that. What I am telling is very personal and individual for you. When you get it in your hand and say, "Oh, it's very nice, I give it to you," do not give this snake to anyone's hand. It is a cobra, a very angry cobra. You caught it, and now it is angry. And you say, "Look, I give it to you, take it, it's very nice." Many of our Yoga in Daily Life teachers make this mistake. They experiment, follow the divine system, all the techniques, very concentrated. We have rewritten, renewed, and modified it—our dear Rādhā, our dear Himālaya Harriet, and a few others. We spent five years preparing this again. It is not that you should think, "Let's search for something." You should know what you have. You should know what values you have. You have the amṛta. You are filled with this amṛta, with this wisdom, the knowledge of yoga and the science of yoga and daily life for body, mind, and soul. We will do further. The problem with many of you is that you cannot digest it. Immediately, you will tell others what Swamiji was talking about. Maybe they are watching the webcast. But that is like a preserved sweet skin in the sun or pepperoni in acid. They can see that; it is better than nothing, they listen. But the real thing is what you are getting now. Do not spoil what I am telling you by going outside and doing this. Keep it with you. Digest it. I told you yesterday: knowledge and truth are among the hardest things to digest. That is Jñāna Gaja. Gaja is a special preparation of food for people who want to build their body, brain capacity, concentration, and spiritual energy. That gaja is very rich food. You can hardly eat more than one apricot's worth. If you eat a big apple, for three days you will feel, "I am so tired, something heavy is lying in my stomach." But if you work the whole day with wood, then you can eat two apples. Jñāna gaja, knowledge, is also very hard to digest. If you can digest it, then you are proceeding toward your destination. Every yoga teacher listening through the webcast or sitting here: do not always make experiments with your students. What you learn here and go teach there—then you have lost. First, you should master it; you should have anubhav. Anubhav bani aate hai. Experience this first, and then give further. Like in medical science, they conduct experiments for years with hundreds of thousands of people, collecting all benefits and side effects. Similarly, you should first experience yourself. Get this. Then, in your class, people will feel good. Otherwise, tomorrow in your class you will tell something different, and they will say, "She was teaching something different last week. What happened to my teacher? Always changing." When you are always changing, what do you expect? How will your students progress? All theory and practice are given in our holy Yoga in Daily Life—the Rāmāyaṇa, or Bible, called Yoga in Daily Life—and the Upaniṣad, The Hidden Powers in Humans and the Divine, our holy Lilāmṛt. First, digest this. Then, if you are still hungry, tell me, and I will supply you something more. But first, do it. Become it. It is said: if a hundred people are sleeping in a hall and a fire breaks out, and they do not realize it, they will all die. But if one is awakened, this one can warn and awaken all the hundreds. You are that one. But first, you should wake up inwardly, and not do this and that. This weekend was great. All that I am telling is the kṛpā, the blessings, the mercy of our paramparā, our Gurudev. We are all students; I am also a student like you. I always tell Mahāprabhujī, "Please give me a little more, so I can give further." Mahāprabhujī supplies everything to us; we are consuming. But consume in a proper way. I wish you all the best and a very nice weekend further. God bless you. I think the next program will be in Hungary somewhere, and then India. All the best. Siddhi. Prāṇāyām Bhagavān Dev Puruṣa Mahādeva Mādhava Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān Satya Sanātana Oṁ Śānti Śānti... Hari Oṁ.