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The Eternal Truth of Sanatan Dharma in Salzburg

A spiritual discourse on Mother Earth, the nature of love, and the cycles of time.

"Where there is ignorance, there is dissatisfaction. Where there is wisdom, there is no dissatisfaction."

"In this dark age, Kali-Yuga, a challenging time, there is only one way, because people lack the strength for discipline."

A speaker delivers a satsang in Salzburg, weaving together themes of motherhood, the Yugas (cosmic ages), and spiritual practice. He explains the three types of suffering (Ādhibhautika, Ādhidaivika, Ādhyātmika) and the five sheaths (kośas) of human existence, using the symbolism of Mother Earth to discuss love, contentment, and ethical living. The talk connects ancient Vedic cosmology to contemporary life, concluding with reflections on the Christmas story and the importance of a positive spiritual community.

Filming location: Salzburg, Austria

Asato mā sadgamaya, tamaso mā jyotirgamaya, mṛtyormā'mṛtaṃ gamaya. Oṁ śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ. Oṁ sarveśāṃ svastirbhavatu, sarveśāṃ śāntirbhavatu, sarveśāṃ pūrṇam bhavatu, sarveśāṃ maṅgalam bhavatu. Oṁ śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ. Oṁ śrī dīp nārāyaṇa bhagavān kī, śrī deveśvara mahādeva kī, daruma samrāṭ satguru svāmījī mādhavānandajī bhagavān kī jaya. Salzburg is very well known. In 1980, I was in Japan with Japanese people who asked me where I live now. I said, "In Austria." They said, "Australia?" I said, "No, Austria." They asked, "Where is that?" I said, "In Europe, next to Germany." They said, "Aha, that is the one by Mozart, Salzburg." I said, "Exactly, yes." So, Mozart and Salzburg are very well known. It is a beautiful city; many tourists come. I believe it is also a cultural city, right? But music does. Today the topic is about Mother Earth. It is a fitting topic because it is currently the Christmas season, and there is a great connection with the Mother. Now let us see what role a mother plays. A question was asked: what is love? The question was asked by my wife. When the woman is a mother, then the mother knows love, or the Love. Then a third question arose: contentment. No one forces us to be upset, but it is our ignorance, our charm, or our ego that makes us feel we cannot control anything. Ignorance and dissatisfaction are very similar. Where there is ignorance, there is dissatisfaction. Where there is wisdom, there is no dissatisfaction. So now we come to Mother Earth and even beyond, from those times of billions, trillions of years that are connected with time or with Yugas: Satya-Yuga, Dvāpara-Yuga, Tretā-Yuga, Kali-Yuga. Satya-Yuga is the age of truth, and it was the new world-creation. Dvāpara-Yuga was limited in ceremonies, yajñas, fire rituals. What you experience, for example in church, is incense, Holy Smoke. One experiences it also in Native American culture with the peace pipe. It has nothing to do with tobacco; it is something else. For friendship, for spirituality, and for peace, one takes the peace pipe. Also in Africa and in various rainforest cultures, they have certain herbs that cleanse negative energy and also keep away types of mosquitoes. In our life, we have three types of disturbances. This disturbance is called Trita-pa—three kinds of fire. This kind of fire that we see, inner fire, causes us pain, disturbs us, attacks us, etc., on an astral plane, and it affects our body: Ādhibhautika, Ādhidaivika, and Ādhyātmika. These are three types of fire. One of them is Ādhibhautika: all living beings that disturb other living beings. We must master ourselves, because the very little ones are tiny, but they can kill us. An example: in Austria, there are also many which one can check, and they can harm us very, very much—a disease, like snakes, scorpions, and so on. If you have certain herbs or a small fire burning and you sit beside it, then no snake will come, no scorpion will come, no tiger will come, no lion will come; all these kinds of animals remain distant. Ādhyātmika is connected to our illness. Every human or animal has an illness, and thus we see that we have different bodies. Normally it is said that there are three bodies: physical, mental, and astral. But Vedānta says we have five types of bodies: the physical body, energy body, mental body, intellectual body, and the body of our desires and feelings—attainment. Annamaya Kośa, Prāṇamaya Kośa, Manomaya Kośa, Vijñānamaya Kośa, and Ānandamaya Kośa. Kośa means our own phenomena in which we live, we exist. We die for this body, but we carry with us the other four kośas. Every kind of illness first attacks our subtle body through fear or conflict or many other things, and slowly, slowly they come to our energy body, from subtle energy to the mental energy, and then to this body. So these three Tapas are the ones that can disturb our various bodies or our very being. The third is negative energy. Negative energy, as people say—for example, many believe in magic, many believe in nothing. Only faith never ends. One believes there is no river, he says. Okay, but others believe there is a river, Salzach. Yes, whether you believe it or not, there is a river called Salzach that flows beside or through the middle of Salzburg, right? Yes, Ādhibhautika, Ādhidaivika, Ādhyātmika, and five Kośas. So, in the Dvāpara Yuga, there was a lot of attachment to ceremonies, incense, or as mentioned, holism. We also have incense sticks for that now. The incense sticks arrived very late. When people discovered trade, doing business, commerce, they gradually developed it little by little. The different types of incense sticks are used at every altar, every Pūjā. One can also be at home. Last Sunday, not yesterday, a week before, I was on a plane with Austrian Airlines and was looking at the newspaper. It was a great article about Holy Smoke, fragrance, healing. In the Tretā-Yuga, knowledge came more through Jñāna-Yoga, through wisdom, knowledge, and the chanting of mantras and hymns. So there was little Jñāna-Yoga, but with this knowledge a lot of intellect was used, and then slowly, slowly, the subject called science, investigation, emerged. Science means there is some sense in it. But that sense has already been discovered by the saints and ṛṣis, or they have known it. But we are not satisfied. So, science said research. It is all research here, but we are going to research. How do you say it in the German language? "Trust is good, but control is better." Thus, through Jñāna-Yoga, through knowledge and many mantras, they have tried to know themselves, self-realization, etc. All three of these parts—Satya-Yuga, Dvāpara-Yuga, and Tretā-Yuga—require a great deal of discipline. Every word you speak has a powerful effect on your body, mind, consciousness, soul, and your future. A word you have promised holds true for many lifetimes, not just in this life. I often wonder, what will it be like? In front of the registry office or the church, nicely dressed, two people standing there and exchanging their vows. "Yes, I will always be faithful to you and always be there for you." "Do you want her as your wife?" "Say yes." And ask her, "Do you want him as your husband?" She says yes. So, it is there; you can see the uncertainty. One moves slowly. It is beautiful that this time no longer returns. One should walk slowly like this. In India, there is also the wedding ceremony where one walks slowly around the fire. But these slow steps are strokes of uncertainty. They are uncertain steps for the future. No matter how it is, we have given our word. What will happen now with this word? So you have already decided to let go, to marry again, to give your word again, to let go again. I do not know what the next life will be. Perhaps our perspective will come to the point where you no longer find a partner. Or you remain in a cage, a solitary bird, for a lifetime, and other birds are in a different cage, which can only be closed. Now I mean to you, my dear, human word, human language that comes from the heart—God speaks within you. And so back then, singing all kinds of mantras, performing ceremonies, and knowing everything was very serious and required much, much discipline. But the fourth Yuga, Kali-Yuga. Kali-Yuga is a very negative time and it will get even worse. The middle of Kali-Yuga is mentioned in the written Purāṇas, where it speaks about Kali-Yuga. Bhayānkara—Bhayānkara means very dangerous or very sad or very dark, no matter what you say, completely Bhayānkara, khaṭarā, danger. Bhayānkara can also mean danger. When a ten or twelve-year-old girl becomes a mother. Now, the Kali-Yuga is in the strength of its fiery flame. And four days ago, five days ago, I heard there was a twelve-year-old mother on the program. Have you perhaps heard? This is now the highest attainment of the Kali-Yuga, but we still have many thousands of years ahead of us. How these years, the Yugas, will unfold—we will experience them. Happy are those, blessed are those, who attain liberation—Mokṣa, liberation. And in every religion, in every sacred book, it is stated that God liberates us, God takes away our sin. Everyone has a different word, a different language, but the meaning is the same. But this dualism has come. So Bhakti and Jñāna, the two paths in this Kali-Yuga. Bhakti is devotion, Jñāna is knowledge. We no longer have the right knowledge or proper education. Spiritual and ethical instruction is found in almost no school. And when a teacher says something, children go home and say, "The teacher said this," then the parents come and ask, "What are you teaching my children?" Is anyone a teacher? You know, yes? So, this is a sign of the Kali-Yuga. All types of spirituality, all kinds of principles of the ethical, are washed through a strong detergent and immersed in the salt bath. And salt is carried into the lake. So, now only the individual remains for us. In this dark age, Kali-Yuga, a challenging time, there is only one way, because people lack the strength for discipline. Everyone transitions into each day. There is a sacred word, and it ends, and this and that. So much is being bombarded around, and it creates fear. You handle everything within yourself. So, in Kali-Yuga, Bhakti-Yoga is easier for us: a faith in God. God is only one, who is the Brahman, Nirguṇa, omnipresent. But now we cannot begin with the radiance of God. We need something. And so, from time to time, God or His special energy comes to this Earth. And this Earth still exists because somewhere in the world it is still sacred—Holy Saints. So this is the Satya, truth, Jñāna, that still sustains our Earth. But Bhayānkara, a very dangerous time, is yet to come and come again. So, from Yugas and Yugas and Yugas, Manvantaras, Kalpas, one speaks of the universe. And not only our Earth and our solar systems, our planets, but there are countless sun-planets. A Ṛṣi, a Yogi, has reached up to 2100 solar systems, beyond which there is nothing more. What instrument or mathematics has examined 2100 solar systems and brought knowledge here, the entire knowledge? In our solar system, there exist 14 different Lokas, the planes. One of us is the Earth, and that is the middle, and from the Earth, seven lower and six upper. In Śūnyākāśa, śūnya is an empty space, absolutely nothing, no stars, no sound, nothing. And only there did a feeling arise. It is said only through words, but it was not exactly like that; rather, as a linguistic image: Eko'haṃ bahusyāmi. The Brahman, the God who has no form, omnipresent. And that is called the will of God. What is God's will? Does He need anything? What does He desire? God has everything. If God also has desires, then naturally we are a sack full of desires. God has no desires. God Christ said that in the entire universe there is nothing that I cannot obtain. But still, I work. I perform the Karma. I embody the Śiva. So the will of God, the divine will, the Gotteswille, means, "I am one and now I will multiply." This is called Sṛjan in Hindi and Sanskrit, Sṛjan Hara. In English, Sṛjan is a doctor who performs surgery, a surgeon, but that is not the case. Sṛjan means the Creator, who has created the entire universe, all the multiple universes, through one thing, namely His desire as a sound. And through sound, the entire universe begins to vibrate, so that they perceive the sound Nāda, nādarūpa para brahma. Now, sound is the first form of the divine Self. And through sound came the light. And so the light is God. God is light. Sound is love. Love is sound. And then many elements develop. So we are here in our solar system. There came sound, light, and water. Then fire or air and earth. There was space, so various elements came forth. It took a long, long time, many, many billions, trillions of Manvantaras and Kalpas, until this Earth was created beneath the water. And the God of these four incarnations—what has been said so far, from our Satya-Yuga until now in this Kali-Yuga—one was the Varāha-Avatāra. Varāha-Avatāra. Varāha is like, you see in a forest the images, like a kind of pig, but not a pig, so what do you call it? He brought forth the Earth, this entire round sphere from the ocean, from the water; he raised it up and then further developed the three types of living beings. There are four types: Jalacara, Sthalacara, and Nabhacara—three. Living beings in the water, living beings on the earth, and living beings in space. So, this Earth is born from sound, light, air, and water in the womb of water, the ocean. And everyone in the river was inside a water bubble. The soul, which travels from astral planes to the physical body to the mother, is in the form of water and then gives birth. And we have almost 80% fluid in this body. And so, from the womb, from the water, the earth is born. And the Earth has the same ability again, and we call her Mother Earth. And we are the essence of the Earth. It is said in the Bible, "You are the salt of the earth." Our body, everything we possess now, came from the earth and will return to the earth. There is a beautiful poem—a poem is a poem, yes. A saint passes by in a small village, and there sits a man whose profession was a maker of pots, clay pots. In Burgenland, there is a famous village called Stoob, and there many beautiful pots are made, flowing and so on. They bring some earth, clay, then soften it in water and mix it, and so on. So, this black clay, it was placed in water and struck with hands, with boxing movements, rolling together, throwing, and so on. He has tormented the Earth. But the tone speaks with the man. This is what the saint says in his poem. It was an artist or a poet. The greatest artist is the one who paints as if nothing exists in this world. And the best, the one with knowledge, the one who can, the best poet, can go beyond our sun system. His knowledge—what is knowledge? Nothing is simple; everyone composes a beautiful poem. Okay, one, two, three, we cannot go far away from love or Mother Earth or mountains or so on and so forth... snow, and we stay here. But knowledge is infinite. Not everyone can be Mozart. How many symphonies have you composed, Salzburger and citizen? Has anyone composed a symphony? That is how it is. It comes, time brings something. It gives to us and then moves on. And whatever you have, give it away. If you give nothing, you will be finished. That will be lost. Each one of us has a great, great power, many resources within us—source, potential. Each one of us has an immense, immense, much, much potential, but it is dormant. It has many, many karmic layers on it; it does not come up. Have you read the book, The Hidden Powers in Humans, the Chakra Book? And those who have not read it, today they should read it. It is naturally a bit of a thick book, requiring more time. Then we will understand what hinders us in our love. Working on oneself in love. What happens to our body? Healthy, happy, this love, no love eating, not eating. It takes a few days in the process, then it is complete. Turn around, the body is below and you are somewhere else. All your actions are accompanied only by the impressions. Thus the saint, the poet, they see differently than we do. He sees the man tormenting death. And the earth, it warns; his warning, the man was warned. "O man, what are you doing? Be careful, be cautious. One day I will torment you." That's what Mātī says, Mātī... Mātī, Earth. Everything will be mixed back into the Earth. So, that does not mean that we do not take care of our body. We should practice yoga, live healthily, eat healthily, go for walks, and ride bicycles. As long as we live, live happily. Enjoy your life. Otherwise, an hour before death, we say, "God, of course I would have done that. I missed that. My God, why did I hold back?" So, do it! But properly! And so the sound of the earth has a power; it contains the seeds within, and there is again love and power. Thus the soul comes into contact with the earth. It is born in various forms, different kinds of living beings, including vegetation, etc., comes and goes. Now, the principles of Mother Earth migrate into the female body. And it is then said she has a title; she holds a position as a mother—Mother Earth or the Mother. It is said that Mother Earth does not lose the seeds. The desert, where it doesn't rain for three, four years, five years, and when it suddenly rains, in a few days you see a beautiful green carpet over the entire desert and the flowers bloom. How beautiful this is, thanks to the Mother. This is Mother Earth. So we must not harm Mother Earth; we must show respect. In our religion, in our mantras, when you get up in the morning from your bed, you greet the Earth, saying, "Mother, may I place my feet on you and walk." So do not step on it suddenly; show respect. If you go to the shimmering bath, open the water, ask the god Water. And how beautiful it is when water comes, and you take your hands into the water—what good feelings you have. I always, when I quickly drink morning water, say thank you. And water on the face, it is a relief. Water is also Mother. Regarding all the elements, God has said, for our bliss and well-being, He has said all of this. So the mother knows what love is. The mother knows how many days or months or years she has carried the baby in her body with her own blood. She nourished this embryo with her own body, with her own self; she was the first, giving everything—her entire hormones and vitamins and so on, I don’t know what all there is, everything. If something is not right or blocked, then one is born unable to hear, speak, or is blind, or something like that. So this is the mother body, which truly passes on life. The two principles are present, Father and Mother. So the Upaniṣads, the oldest scripture, say, Mātṛdevo bhava is a mantra. First, God is the mother. Pitṛdevo bhava, then your father is divine. Then Ācāryadevo bhava, then your teachers, who have guided you and given you the nectar of knowledge, true knowledge. And so, you see, a little bird, when it knows it is pregnant and will lay an egg, perhaps the father is not there, but it stays in that environment and brings dry grass and such, and builds a beautiful nest. And certain birds that know the danger is too great, they make a nest, hanging it on the thinner aspens of a tree. So, the snake or the cat cannot go there because it is very flexible. And with so much love. And it brings such grass that the eggs or the babies feel comfortable. How beautiful is that? That is motherly love. So if someone wants to know what love is, then you know that. And then, she lays the eggs and stays there. Quickly something flies off somewhere to eat and then comes back and sits there again, protected. And then the baby is born. We see how it engages itself. The other bird flies far away, saying there is a very beautiful field there and now everything is ripe, you can eat and so on. But it does not fly that far. It stays within 100, 200 meters. And her eyes are always where the nest is and where the babies are sitting. Just as the young mother goes shopping while the child is at home, she goes quickly and everyone says, "Hello, how are you?" "Yes, good, thank you." "Well, we haven't seen each other for a long time." "Yes, good, yes. I have to go home because my toddler is sleeping right now. There is no one there." This is love. And Father says, "Yes, well, hello there. Not feeling well? Well, I'm doing quite well, you know. I have a little free time because my wife is keeping me busy. Do you feel like going out for a beer? Well, why not? Come along." That varies a bit. Although, a father loves his child very much, like Lord Hagenau loves the mother. But still, Mother has a very deep relationship because they experienced it. And such a beautiful bird, a small tiny bird, and she has a beautiful nest, with four babies inside, four or five. And she flies off to bring some food, but a foolish crow comes and eats all five babies and then flies away. The mother comes, she lets everything out from her mouth that she has brought. Do you understand pain? We all understand what that means for her, but the mother will feel it more deeply. And so, the Saint then wrote, DOING NO HARM is the highest principle and commandment. Therefore he said, "O human, you must see, viśvaprāṇī merī ātmā hai." All living beings in this world, Viśva, are MYSELF. Ātmā IS THE SUPREME SELF. And this Ātmā is the light itself, the light of God. And therefore, in Yoga and in religions, it has been forbidden or said that you should not kill. If you take a piglet or a kitten or a bunny and kill yourself, do you understand the suffering of this living being? It is the same love as that of a human mother or an animal mother. But the person with intellect, what they have said, Jñāna-Yoga, and have investigated something. And now people think, "I can do anything." Oh human, you must repay heavily, heavily. And for Mother Earth, it is our nest. And in this nest, all live. Mother sustains, everyone is happy. And what possesses us? And all this warmth, the sun. And so the Father, who watches over us, possesses us. Then the lives of these three, four babies, that they have grown wings and begin to fly. Mother watches, Father watches, but gives a teaching. And then, when they are free, they are content. So satisfied is the question. Contentment is when you have completed your entire day, finished your work, come home, cooked well, eaten, and washed everything up. Yes, go ahead with that. One should never leave a dirty plate or even a tea bag lying in the kitchen overnight. I also need a little oxygen. Could you please open the door a little bit here? Just for a minute, two minutes, and then. Because this is a very important, very important matter. Because at night, two types of energies come into your house. One is the Tamoguṇa, negative energy, dark. And one is Lakṣmī, who represents prosperity, health, and bliss. Lakṣmī, Veda, Lakṣmī is the feminine principle, the female, as they say. And all who desire Lakṣmī, only purity. A woman needs purity, enchantment. Where a woman lives in a home and goes there to see how the home looks. And only one man lives there in an apartment, so go there and find out how things stand. I am also a man, but please, I am also by your side. But my apartment, I have tidied it up properly myself, and I do not know what karma, good karma I have. I have many who do. So please, health, prosperity, bliss, wisdom, and protection. We then need to keep our kitchen, our toilet, bathroom, or let’s say, the entire apartment or house clean. Not a single sock thrown here, another undershirt somewhere there, an undergarment hanging somewhere. And then once a week, everyone gathers together and a washing machine. There will always be, I tell you, there will always be loneliness, disappointment, and unhappiness. So every day going to sleep and therefore automatically every woman, she goes into nourishment and goes, she also likes what she wants. The man sitting and so, the fiancé. So please, Kali-Yuga is the yoga of women, to defend the Kali-Yuga and to protect the men. That means guiding them a little bit in that direction. You cannot produce a sound with one hand, except like this. Both hands create a sound. Or one hand washes the other hand. So, contentment comes when you have completed everything. Then you say, "Okay, now everything is fixed and done, now it remains." What? One says, "What else is there?" Say, "Yes, there is still a little left." What? Brushing teeth. And then the value comes, sleeps peacefully, everything accomplished. That is contentment. So, fulfill what God has given you life for. Then you will die, or when you die, you will die with peace. Otherwise, karma will continue to torment and torment. The universe, Mother Earth, and our physical mother, whether human or animal. There are people who take a small goat, where the baby is, and then remove the living embryo and slaughter it, because the skin and the cap or whatever it is, are considered beautiful. You carry this karma on your head, not only in this life but in several. Therefore it has been said, love your mother, your grandmother, great-grandmother, love all mothers; you should not be diligent in destroying, not even destroy the eggs. And so, in these Christmas times, we are all happy and we have Christmas trees and gifts, but little is reflected upon. You know, those nine months for the holy Mother Mary were not easy, not easy socially. And why was that necessary? It is because she didn’t even have a proper room or house. She must have given birth to her child in the stable where the goats and donkeys and animals were. Your child didn’t even have a cloth or any clothes; he is simply lying on the hay. I do not know, I saw the picture. Today I saw a picture, there was hay and a naked baby lying there. I said, "What is this?" "That is Jesus." I said, "Please finally give him a cloth." Well, right? Didn't I say anything? And we have properly placed it under a beautiful cloth and given it a beautiful garment. No matter how it was, we should not always see him in this painful state. Christmas time is the time to forgive, to offer understanding, and to accept. But you know, we say it is a sacred Mother—how could this sacred Mother lead so many painful, suffering lives and have such experiences? Perhaps to give us a teaching, and in this way, the Christmas season is a joyful time. But when I see the Holy Mother Mary, who strengthens their pain? So, first of all, we first thank Holy Mary, who will give it. She gave us Jesus. So, it is the mother who gave birth to a child, a son or a daughter, and so on. And then the father, who had understanding—I hope that Joseph was not too angry when she became pregnant. Or I don’t know how it was. I hope that he supports them. I do not know. I do not know much. And I was not there. But this Christmas season brings again a mischievous love. And I wish you all a wonderful Christmas. And please remember everyone. And if you say something to your mother out of anger or hurt, then at that moment say, "Mother, please forgive me." We may part ways, but the mother’s love will never leave. Except for someone who is mentally ill. But still, her child is her child. So, that was the topic for today. Thank you very much that Mother Earth has spoken to me, please, what is Mother Earth? And then she said, what is the mother? And contentment and love. I have placed them all together into a beautiful mother’s basket. Thank you, and then I wish you a beautiful, happy New Year and may you enter into treasure-song. Attachment can disturb us. Satsaṅga means a gathering where truth, love, and the universe are spoken about. Not only that, "I am the best, come to me, I will liberate you." Such words are empty words. There is no oil in this seed. Who praises himself, as they say in India, in this seed there is no oil. They are empty. So, where there is general understanding and love, that is the Satsaṅga. And whoever engages in Kuchanga with treasures, practices blackmailing, or utters negative words, that destroys your spirituality. Everything you have accumulated in your life will be destroyed in minutes. So, negative words, negative company is a dangerous infectious disease. So it is a good society, a positive society and community, where love above all is spoken of. God is perfect, and we are perfect to Him. But we strive to be His servant. All the best. Adio. Thank you very much.

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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