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Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ... Śrī Dīpa Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī, Devī Svara Mahādeva kī, Mādhava Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān kī, Satya Sanātana Dharma kī. A very nice, good morning. Welcome to all of you. Please, everyone is welcome here. And open the windows a little, please. Close the windows a little. Done. So it means Jadan. “Done” means go to Jadan. Well, it is a great harmony and divine atmosphere. We are very blessed to have such a beautiful sādhanā hall—it is the natural air conditioner. Every tree, every leaf, every creature—birds, bees, butterflies—when the soul separates from its origin, it is like one seed producing many seeds; it multiplies. Yet that seed does not lose the quality or characteristics of its origin. The seed growing here, if taken to a distant country and planted, will grow. It will yield the same taste, same form, same qualities. So there is only one seed—that is called Brahman—and it multiplies. Each seed multiplies again, but it retains that quality called life. That life, that quality, is the light which represents the origin. Now, if this light is filtered through green or yellow colors, it takes on those colors; in a different environment the form may change somewhat, but the origin itself does not change—the life of the seed. And that life of the seed is the Ātmā. That which carries this light is the jīva, the soul. The soul enters different forms but still has the tendency to multiply. Thus, Ātmā is one, regardless of whether it is in a small creature. Mahāprabhujī kī Karatā... Mahāprabhujī kī Karatā... Mahāprabhujī So when we consider the individual, there is a form. They have different destinies, because what moves is individual, and what does not move is universal. That is why it is called achala. Chala means movable, mobile; achala means steady, immovable. In one bhajan, one prayer, it is said how we should imagine, how we should see Guru Tattva. Tattva means element, but not like fire, water, air and so on; jñāna is also a tattva. So it is said: Śrī Guru Ātmā Paramātmā ho Mahātmā Puruṣottama, Sakala jagat ke antaryāmī, charāchara kī ātmā. Nabha rūpa vyāpī, vimala chetanā ātmā, Prabhu vimala chetana dhāma. Āge yāga jāta, nigama se nitya yātrā, Prabhu nigama ke dīpa. Śrī Guru Ātmā. Śrī means happiness, Śrī means Lakṣmī, Śrī means prosperity, Śrī means goodness, Śrī means joy. In our Vedic culture, in Indian tradition, every name carries a title. And now you see, in this title, the difference between the modern system and the ancient spiritual systems. The modern title is “driver,” “housekeeper,” “farmer,” “doctor,” “professor,” “colleague,” “engineer.” These titles do not reflect the reality of the person—only knowledge, learning, education. But the other ones, like Śrī—it doesn’t matter whether male or female—include an inner quality. So we have Śrī, Pūjya, Ādarṇīya—words that carry great meaning. Pūjanya is a beautiful word; it means worshipped, worshipable. Uctihodný, Slavný, přeslavný, or uctívaný, or svatý—you cannot compare these to any title from an educational institution. So according to Vedic dharma, Vedic philosophy, Vedic culture, the name points toward reality, toward the Ātmā. And who is that? Śrī Guru, Guru Tattva. It is the mantra Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya. This is the name of Gurudeva; shortly we say Guru. “Gu” is darkness and “Ru” is light—one who leads us from the darkness of worldly things to the light of the Self or wisdom. So, Śrī Guru—who is that? Ātmā. Not this body. Śrī Guru Ātmā. That Ātmā is Paramātmā. Your child and your father are the same; only the name is different—son and father. So a division appears: that ātmā which has self-realization and bestows upon us the knowledge of self-realization is called a Mahātmā. You know, Gandhījī also got the title Mahātmā. Nobody says “Dr. Gandhi” or “the lawyer.” He was a lawyer, an advocate, but people know him as Mahatma Gandhi. That is Mahātmā. A Mahātma is one who has equal vision. See, the Ātmā loves everyone, does good sevā, protects all creatures and nature. Therefore, those who do good things are called Mahātmas. But you cannot simply ask, “Swamijī, please give me the title Mahātmā.” Your asking doesn’t make it so; it is we who should recognise, “Oh, this is a Mahātmā.” Those who are entangled in the grass and trash of household life do not attain the quality of Mahātmā. As soon as you receive the highest initiation of sannyāsa—no matter from which tradition—automatically you are seen as a Mahātmā. If you travel somewhere in India in the uniform of sannyāsa and people don’t know your name, they will simply call you Mahātmājī: “Mahātmā, you forgot your handbag.” Yes—while they might call someone “Sir” or “Mister,” a Mahātma does not look like that. As soon as I say “Mahātma,” the gurumukhī who has understood will feel it. Opposite to Mahātma is Pāpātmā. “Pāpa” means sin in our language. There is a duality, a conflict. Pāpātmā is the sinner. Sinners have no access even into hell; there is a long waiting time. That time is not given freely—it passes in torture. As you wait, you suffer torments, and then you are transferred into hell. The torture there is different: you do not die. In physical form, if someone tortures you severely, you will die; but the astral body does not die. You feel all the karmas. There is no one to hear you, no one sees, no telephone, no SMS—nothing. But you see and feel the pain, in various ways, chapter after chapter, most painful. From this life it is easy to die, but how can you die there? Therefore, sin exists where there is violence, no matter toward whom you are violent. Amitābha Amitābha... Such a beautiful world where you said ahiṃsā is a relief. Somewhere in the astral world, you will tell your Yamas, “Please, ahiṃsā.” And he will say, “What is that? We don’t know this word.” If you tell a computer, “Sorry,” the computer says, “We have no sorry.” So Pāpātmā—that Ātmā is in that Jīvātmā, in that soul. And because that soul becomes a slave of the senses, the physical senses—jñānendriyas and karmendriyas—then other qualities arise: greed, anger, hate, jealousy, criticizing, backbiting—many, many things. These are also sins. And all these sins are entitled to consequences, suffering torture. Then Yama says, “We are tired.” Then he says, “Throw it into the hill.” And what is that? Feel and suffer the pain of that torture, without remedy. That is called suffering—long, long. Then somehow you are transferred to other creatures, out of the prison of hell. But where? In which form? Jīva jīva bhakṣate—life eats life. Oh my God, again. Sometimes other creatures catch this creature, and they eat you. You are not even half dead; for them it doesn’t matter. Do you know the hyena? The hyena doesn’t attack the throat; the tiger, the lion, sometimes the wolves do. But others, they don’t know—they just bite your buttocks. Can you imagine? And this part is still living, with all feelings. Jīva jīva bhakṣate—this world is cruel. This means that after hell, again come tortures. Then God is merciful, and we get human life. Are we repeating the same thing? You promised a thousand, a million times: “I will not do it anymore. I will never do it. I will never eat this. Never, never. I promise you.” And here you have forgotten your promise. In Hindi, “pāpa” means sin. But in your languages, “Papa” and “Mami” are modern words that carry a different effect. That is why all Vedic names, spiritual names, have an effect on you and on others. When you call someone Pushpa, you have a beautiful vision of flowers; others also feel nice feelings. When you say Rampuri, you are repeating the name of God Rāma. At passport control they said, “Mr. Paramahamsa.” I said, “No.” So when they call Paramahaṁsa, it is Paramahaṁsa—and then comes Mr. Wolfgang. I recall one man who wanted to practice yoga. I asked his name, and he said “Lefler.” So I wrote it. Later I learned that “Lefler” means the spoon. Soup. So many names do not carry the same depth. Thus, ātmā, Paramātmā, Dharmātmā, or Pāpātmā. Pāpātmā is that which is without ahiṃsā, which becomes a destroyer, a butcher. Without ahiṃsā, the soul will suffer in the next life. In Fiji I met a very old sādhu on our first visit who said in satsaṅga: as many chickens you eat, that many times you will have to be born as a chicken and have your throat cut. As many cows and goats you eat—there is no excuse. You are in the system. In modern computers, you want to check online but the system doesn’t accept—you are in the system. He said you have to be born many times to give your throat. When I spoke in India in satsaṅga, an eighty-nine-year-old man with folded hands said, “Gurudev, I will never do that anymore.” I said, “But you ate many.” He said, “Yes, but I will never do it anymore.” I said, “How can I help you? Now, at least stop; some will be little.” So, Dharmātmā. Dharma rakṣati rakṣitaḥ—Dharma protects the one who protects it. You are all Dharmātmā. Ho Mahātma Puruṣottama. That Mahātma can only be in a human body. Puruṣottama is the highest quality in humans. It is not only a human body, but your inner spiritual work makes you a Mahātmā, Puruṣottama, Bhagavān Puruṣottama, Maryādā Puruṣottama. Bhagavān Rāma is called Maryādā Puruṣottama. So these great beings are Puruṣottama. There is nothing wrong in adoring such people, because the body is different but inside is gold. But who stands above garbage and money, someone who can drop anything anywhere? They are like little children. If you throw garbage, your little child will throw money into the garbage too, because mother did it. The child doesn’t know what money is. We need to reach that level, to become innocent children again, but karmas and distance prevent us from going back. We can only go forward, otherwise we are recycled. Puruṣottama—if you practice all this yoga in your life, follow all disciplines, you will become Puruṣottama. Many people do not want this, and they do not want you to achieve that highest path. They try to pull others back into the garbage. Many have flowed into the flushing canalization, and many more will follow. Yet many are saved and are coming to Puruṣottama. Who are these? They are not separate entities; every entity is… Aum Ātmā. Therefore, this Guru Tattva—you can say Master Tattva if you cannot pronounce “Guru.” Once an American sannyāsī chanted kīrtan from four to five-thirty every morning, and his favorite kīrtan was “Glory to Gurudeva.” Because of his pronunciation, some listeners thought he was singing about chai and food, and they often brought him chai and food. You see how words can be misunderstood. But he was pure in his intention, so it is all right. The fight is of language and culture, not of the essence. So whether you say guru, master, teacher, or priest—if the priest does not walk the path, then gurus and sannyāsīs whose position is always uplifting will increase, while worldly titles decrease. This is the difference in titles. But if you follow your path, the dignity of your Guru Tattva, your spiritual lineage, then even Bhīṣma in the Mahābhārata—though he adored Kṛṣṇa and inwardly sided with the Pāṇḍavas—remained loyal to his position with the Kauravas. Śrī Guru Ātmā Parama Ho Mahātma Puruṣottama, Sakala jagat ke antaryāmī, charāchara kī ātmā. How beautiful! Sakala jagat ke antaryāmī. Antaryāmī is the one dwelling within you. Who is that? Charāchara kī ātmā—the Ātmā of every entity, every creature. This literally explains what Guru Tattva is. Guru Tattva Śrī. Begin with Śrī—prosperity, wisdom, happiness. What a beautiful Śrī Guru. Sakala jagat ke antaryāmī, charāchara kī ātmā. Nabha rūpa vyāpī, vimala chetanā ātmā, Prabhu vimala chetana dhāma. Āge yāga jāta, nigama se nitya yātrā, Prabhu nigama ke dīpa. Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī jaya. So, this prayer is not a prayer—it is the glory, the introduction of what Guru Tattva is. It represents to us what Guru Tattva is. So before it was only here: Śrī Guru Ātmā, Paramātmā, Puruṣottama, Mahātmā, sakala jagat, antaryāmī, charāchara kī ātmā. Then further expanding: Nabha Rūpa Vyāpī. Nabha means the sky, rūpa means form. Nabha rūpa vyāpī—it is one with the entire sky. That is called equal vision. But we are very narrowly limited; we are a frog in a small puddle. That frog must come to the endless ocean. There is a Rajasthani bhajan: “De dīriyā, sōḍha silīriyā kī āśā, e silīriyā gharipālaka kara samundriyā vāsa.” O frog, give up the hope of this little pond. This small pond is only temporary—some seconds, minutes, hours. Give up hope in it and go live in the ocean, the endless ocean. Thus we are that frog, living in this little body and jumping here and there. How long will you enjoy, my dear, in this body? Then the body is gone; again you are without anything. Various animals, birds, ducks lie in wait. How will you jump now? How to escape this cycle? This is destiny, this is death. You peek out a little, but you go deep again. My dear, for how long? So come to satsaṅga. In the endless ocean you will be there. Stretch your wings and take off to that endless ocean of Brahmaloka, Śivaloka. We have a chance; take advantage of it. I cannot tell you more today; tomorrow we will continue. Prabhu charāchara kī ātmā, Nabha rūpa vyāpī, vimala chetanā ātmā, Prabhu vimala chetanā ātmā. Kara dhyāna yāga, āgama jāga, nigama śaraṇa yātrā, Prabhu nigama ke dīpa. Śrī Dīpa Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī jaya, Śrī Svāmī Śivānandajī Mahārāja kī jaya, Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Śrī Svāmī Maheśvarānandajī Gurudeva kī jaya.