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Sri Devpurijis miracle on Mount Abu

A sādhanā camp is a healing retreat for body, mind, and spirit. Ancient wisdom prescribes bathing in air, sun, and water for health; spiritual bathing in a sacred environment completes the healing. This dedicated time, free from worldly duties, allows for deep practice. Do not lose this precious opportunity in idle talk or inner dialogue. Be like a wooden spoon in honey, absorbing the sweet essence of satsaṅg to carry home. True purification comes from tradition, cleansing the senses and removing the curtains of ignorance through practice and satsaṅg. The goal is to burn away karma and attain purity of consciousness.

"Try not to lose time at seminars on coffees, on nonsense talk, and nonsense 'not-talk' with others."

"Yoga will be successful through the practice of karma yoga."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Praṇām Gurudev, Hari Om, dear friends. We are here in the Strelka āśram in the Czech Republic. This āśram is a truly healing place for all of us. In such a beautiful location with good air and so many trees, we have the opportunity to be with our Gurudev and practice our sādhanā. In ancient Rome, they said that to heal a person from illness, you need bathing: air bathing, sun bathing, and water bathing. But we have one more thing: spiritual bathing. Only through all this bathing in such beautiful energy do we have the opportunity to heal ourselves. It is not only about being in a nice place but also about having a sādhanā. Our summer seminars—because our main goal during our few weeks of retreat and holiday is to heal ourselves, not only physically but also mentally and spiritually. During the year we practice, but you know, you have your family duties, your job, and many other obligations, and we don't have extra time for practice. But when we are here at seminars, we have a great opportunity to do something for ourselves. When I started practicing Swamijī's yoga and being with Swamijī, I think at my first summer retreat seminar, Swamiji said something that was, at that time, completely strange to me. He said that all of us are so lucky that we have no other duty except to practice. You don't need to cook, you don't need to clean. Nothing—just practicing. That was my first anuṣṭhāna. At that time, I was an adolescent. I had no duties. Now I realize that this sādhanā camp is truly something great because you don't need to think about what you will eat today. I sometimes hear that the most delicious food is when you don't need to cook it or wash the dishes. It's true, especially for ladies. You have time for yourself. You have time for practicing, for your sādhanā. Střelecký Āśram is truly heaven because you are completely free. You have time for yourself to do your sādhanā, to just sit near these nice big trees, breathing and relaxing. That is the healing. Our summer seminar is truly a sādhanā camp, so try not to lose time. I lost so many years at seminars thinking about other things. It's a long way, as we say in Croatia, from the bottom to the head—from Mūlādhāra to Sahasrāra. In another language, we said it. You need many, many years to realize. Try not to lose time at seminars on coffees, on nonsense talk, and nonsense "not-talk" with others. Mostly, we lose our time with talking, with our inner dialogue. It is very easy to have kusaṅga with your own self in your privacy. Not losing time means just to enjoy, be aware of your breathing, repeat your mantra, and try to be like a wooden spoon, not a metal spoon. You know, a metal spoon, if it's in honey for a hundred years, will always remain without taste. But a wooden spoon, if it's only a few hours in the honey, even after you wash and wash it, the sweet taste will remain. When we come home, try to still have such a nice, sweet taste of satsaṅg, and just enjoy. Enjoy the presence of Gurudeva and enjoy this nice āśram, this nice sādhanā retreat. Siddhi number one, Aṇimā. Nice to see you. For the last 24 hours, we have been thinking about Bhagavān Sadāśiva Devapurījī, especially his departing from this world, giving up his body. It is a very significant month called Śrāvaṇa Māsa. The entire month is dedicated to Śiva. The glory of Devapurījī is the glory of Śiva. Today is another significant day. Divine Mother Pārvatī incarnates, and this is also in Śrāvaṇa Māsa. In India, we have many beautiful cultural festivals, especially in Jaipur. Jaipur is a city of culture. Every beautiful event or festival is very nicely, colorfully designed and celebrated. So, what does Pārvatī mean? 'Par' means the mountain. 'Pati' means the Lord, the honored head. So Śiva is known as the king of the Himalayas, and his daughter Pārvatī is the daughter of that Himālaya. The seat of Śiva is Mount Kailāśa. Mount Kailāśa is very, very old, though it is said the Himalayas are the youngest mountains. Yes, but it is the holiest mountain. So you may say Pārvatī, you may say Gaurī, you may say Śakti, you may say many, many divine names of the holy mothers. The holiest places are in the Himalayas. You know the story; you read Little Amrit. Many don't read. You should read every day before going to sleep, one chapter. It's not very big. Religious, cultural, and traditional conflicts were there from the very beginning of human existence. Possession of territory—even for dogs, when a dog goes from one street to another, he has a bad day. So it is in nature. It is said that during the time of British rule in India, they had their camps, their army stations, like battalions, in certain places. Mount Abu was a very good place with a good climate. So they had their battalions there too. Well, to tell the truth, the British respected Indian culture, Indian religion, and traditions a lot. Once, a journalist asked a question to Indira Gandhi. We know what the British have done, a lot of which was not good for India. Gandhi, Nehru, Subhash Bose, and so on—all the leaders were fighting, struggling to make India independent, free from the British. So it is always like that. The Austrian monarchy was in Hungary too. Austrians are proud of it, but Hungarians are not proud of it. They are sitting—some Hungarians can tell you. And the Russians were very good, protective; they protected, they helped all this part of Europe. But if you ask, they are not really happy. For example, Czech people have nothing against Russia, and Russia has nothing against Czech; they are good friends. But ask: should Russians come back? Of course, as tourists, you are most welcome. Though Russians have done nothing bad—the opposite, they protected you—but you know the human mind, how it thinks. The Germans were protecting many other countries. They were in Czech and Slovakia. They were in the former Yugoslavia, 30–40 kilometers from Novi Sad. People learned Czech, and they learned German; they speak perfect German. In Ostrava, they were going to German school. It was very good, but now if you ask them, should they come? You are not happy with that. So this is a human conflict. We love Germans, we love Russians, we love Americans, we love Indians, we love Africans, we love all. But they should be where they are. My house is my house, my neighbor's house is my neighbor's house; we are good friends, but we don't want to exchange our sleeping room with them. Such a conflict exists. So, the journalist is asking Indira Gandhi, "Can you tell something good that they have done?" And she said, "Of course, many good things. But I will tell you two points. The British have connected or united all of India in oneness by bringing the railway. All this train railway system is designed, and the thoughts are by the British. So, to come from Rajasthan to South India, they had to cross many countries, and the language is different. There was no transportation. And second, they connected us through one language with the world: the English language. Everywhere now, English has become so common and so widespread. If you speak a little English, you can get through." But sometimes, some people in that group can be stupid ones. One British officer was running here and there the whole time; it was hot summer, and he came back to his residence at Mount Abu. In the temple, Śiva's pūjā began. Now, you know, Hinduism is a religion of joy, a religion of beauty, a religion of freedom. Not sad. Not going silently and sitting down there. Celebrate the joy. That's it. And here also, early morning the church bell is ringing. The whole night our bell is ringing. The first two nights, people who come from some cities where there are no church bells can't sleep. Once, one person was sleeping in his stretcher, and at one o'clock in the night, he was in deep sleep, and the bell went "BAM!" Again, the soldiers came, and then he calmed down. One person who went to India, he was from Carinthia, a very good bhakta, and he said, "Swamiji, I am missing Austria." I said, "What?" "I am missing the bell ringing—the tower bell and the church morning bell." When the bell is ringing, the little children also say, "Hear bim bam bim bim joy." But people who never heard this come and say, "My God, they should turn off the clock in the night." So it is a matter of adjusting yourself, understanding yourself, culture, and beauty. Without a church bell, a village is like dead, or without a temple bell. Now you come to the Middle East, where Islam is. In the mosque, high tower, they have a big, loud speaker, and they say prayer. Hello, brother, beautiful. Others say it's art; for them it is joy. We shall accept, and they don't make a noise. They say, "God, Allāh, Īśvara, Allāh." We say, "In Indian, Īśvara and Allāh are your names, oh my Lord." Anyhow, in Mount Abu, there is a beautiful lake, a big, beautiful lake, and there was no water. So it is said the saints and sādhus, for years and years, were digging with their hands. They lost their nails. That's why the name is called Nakhī Talāb, Nakhī Lake. 'Nakhī' means these nails. That is how the name comes. Now it's a beautiful lake with beautiful, deep water, about one kilometer long or something like that. Near the Nakhī Talāb, there is a beautiful Śiva temple, very, very ancient, thousands of years old. The name of that Śiva is called Duleśvara Mahādeva. 'Dhūl' is dust. When they were digging, there was a lot of dust, but Śiva manifested there. In other words, Duleśvara means Dularā. Dularā means the dear one, dear to my heart. Dularā is two words again. One is Dularā, the baby of the dear mother or father, who always takes them on the arm and makes their own arms as a cradle. Paramahaṁsa Yogananda's master, Yukteśvara, is writing a letter to Yogananda. It was in his biography—maybe it is now, or not; I read only in Hindi. When he was in America, Yukteśvara writes, "Mere hṛday ke dularā"—the dear of my heart. My heart is a cradle for you. That's the love of Gurudeva. And second, the 'dūlā' is the one who is going to marry. We call it the bride, or what? The bride. The man who comes to marry now, I don't know, in the room or in the temple. So it is said at the time of marriage, both are king and queen. So we said we are Dulā and Rājā. Okay, this beautiful time is gone. It was a marriage, and it was a pride for all we raised. All were decorating, celebrating, weeks long. Now it's, "Oh, you're married already." All this is lost. If you marry or not, it is a joy to marry. And the biggest joy now is to divorce. Therefore, the first impression is the last impression. Anyhow, Duleśvara Mahādeva temple is located on the bank of the Nakhī Talāb. So there was music and bhajan, āratī, drums, and many, many instruments, loud. The residence was near, so that British officer who came very tired, and this... he was having his cup of tea. And this bim-bam is not only for two minutes or one minute. Oh, when they pray to Śiva, they are all high. So he said, "What is this noise?" "This is temple pūjā." "Who is there?" "A priest." "To whom are they praying?" "To Śiva." "Is Śiva unable to hear anything while he is sleeping? That he has to be woken? Stop. Order is order—military order, position, action, suit, military. My dear, we don't want this." So they stopped. And he said, "When Śiva himself comes to request the pūjā in such a way, then I will allow it. Otherwise, silently make your pūjā. No problem." They were very, very sad, so they were praying, "Dev Śiva, please come." And then Devapurījī comes. And directly he enters the residence, and they call the red priest—the orange dress. He said, "Well, the lord of the red priest is here. What do you want?" He was so humiliated. Angry, he said, "Yes, are you Śiva?" He said, "Yes." Oh, God was angry again. "If you are Śiva, then drink this spirit." They had some bottles of spirits. Not alcohol—poison. If tījab—we call it tījab. Not benzene. You can't touch acid. He said, "Okay, give it." And he drank two, three bottles. If one drop falls on your skin, it's burnt, and he was looking at it. The English British? "It's a madman." Therefore, he said, "Give me more still. My—how do you call them—limitation is not over." And as Holy Gurujī described what the sādhus were talking about, they broke the bottles and ate them, like you eat potato chips. And he said, "Still, I'm, my, my—I don't know what is the word—not appetite, limit, is not completed." If you are used to drinking five bottles of vodka every day and you get down to two bottles, three are still missing. So this military officer, he said, "Stupid," and went away. And Devapurījī took his shawl and lay down in the yard, and the officer said, "Oh, this crazy man died. Call the ṭhaṇḍā to carry dead bodies away. Pull him away." Devapurījī got up, "Who died?" He went to him, and it seemed all was paralyzed—like when God Kṛṣṇa was born in the prison. Kaṁsa was waiting for that minute. But what happens? All fell asleep. All the guards, and there were several iron doors to reach that room in prison, and all doors opened. And Vasudeva takes Kṛṣṇa and crosses the river Yamunā and brings Kṛṣṇa to Govardhana, on the other side of the Yamunā, to Gokula. He handed over Kṛṣṇa to Nanda Bābā, and the Yamunā had a lot of water, and he couldn't go. The water came up to here, and Yamunā was rising and rising, and he thought, "I will die, and this child will die." He was protecting that Vasudeva Nāga because of the heavy rain, and Vasudeva put his head like this. But Vasudeva thought, "Now I will not survive." Kṛṣṇa knows why Yamunā is rising up. So Kṛṣṇa, a little baby, a few hours born, puts his feet down out of the basket, and Yamunā is touching his feet, and immediately Yamunā gave way, and he sped back. Similarly, all became powerless, and Devapurījī takes him and walks on the water in Nakhī Talāb, putting him in and out. He said, "Now, Red Padre's, Hindu's God is here. What do you want?" He said, "Devapurījī, bachāo, please Devapurījī, save me. As long as my government is here, no one will disturb the Hindu kingdom." The British did not damage any Hindu temples or Hindus. And then he left him free and walked over. So where he enters and said, "Please do the pūjā. I have nothing against." So, there is—even you can go now—there is a bank, we call a ghāṭ, where you go into the Nakhī Talāb. There is written Devapurījī Ghāṭ. Those who were in Mount Abu... So Mount Abu, 'Abu' is that great Lord Śiva. So Abunāth, Abunāth means the lord of the Abu. That is another title they gave to Devapurījī. Then when he went further, he got Abhūta. Abhūta, so Devapurījī was Abhūta. Like the guru of Nityānanda in Ganeshpuri, and Muktānanda, the Nityānandajī, was Avadhūta. Ramaṇa Maharṣi was an Avadhūta. So it's not easy to be an Avadhūta. So Devapurījī was known as Bābā Devapurījī, Avadhūta Bābā Devapurījī. So the Avadhūta is that Mount Abu, the holiest place. And Nāth is the lord of that, king of that. So like Pārvatī is the daughter of the king of the Himalaya, so this is how it's coming, and so is Pārvatī born today. And so it has a meaning. Vivek Purījī was talking in the very beginning, and I was happy that he spoke about purification, that they told in Rome something, or they were telling. That is exactly what the Vedas said, what the Sanātana Dharma said. That time when Śiva was there, that time this purification, pavitra, pavitraya abhiṣeka. So abhiṣeka, that purity of consciousness through honey. Why honey? Puṣṭi Vardhanam means all the herbs, medicinal, valuable herbs and nature should be healthy and, day by day, should flourish and be multiplying. Puṣṭi Vardhānam. And that's why honey is the symbol, because the bee gains this nectar from a beautiful herbal garden. Pavitra, pavitra, pavitra is the gel water. And milk is the source of life. Mother's milk, cow's milk, and vegetation milk, all kinds of milk from nature, including coconut milk, soy milk, rice milk, bamboo milk, gum tree's milk, etc. One milk is from the mother, the second milk is from the cow or all animals which give milk. There may be a drink from them—maybe goat, elephant, buffalo, sheep, deer. They are all included in this animal. One milk is mother's milk, the other is animal's milk, the third milk is natural herbs' milk. Chatha dudh kaika, but there is a fourth one also. Which is that one? Unless you will not get that milk, you will not get immortal, and that dudh is the wisdom. Mantras, the divine word. That's called amṛta. The immortal words are a nectar. Then prāṇaśuddhi. And all you have to do is prāṇāyāma before you sit in the yajña. Prāṇaśuddhi. Prāṇaśuddhi, and then mudrās. And earth, so you have to take the earth. The ash dust, though, is the salt of the earth. So air, all five elements—that is for purification. That's called Gaṅgā Jal. All water is representing the Gaṅgā. That's it. So these are the traditions lost, that is coming from Vedic Dharma. And so, purification of our indriyas, our senses, to remove the curtains of our inner vision. Mālavikṣepa and āvaraṇa—impurities, disturbances, and the curtain of ignorance. Just open the curtain and see. So in your Czech language, Slovak language, you have a very good one word that is a pure Sanskrit word. That you have this. Without that, you cannot build any house. That's called 'okna'. What is okna? Window. And what are these eyes? The window of our body. Through this you can see, but when this body has a gray star, these eyes you can't see. So this is the curtain, āvaraṇa, āvaraṇa of the ignorance. How to remove this thick curtain? Through the satsaṅg, that can remove the āvaraṇa of our ignorance, our doubts, and what makes us free from the disturbances. Meditation, meditation, and how to purify body, mind, and emotions. Consciousness is purified through practice: karma, sevā, karma yoga. That's called "yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam." Yoga will be successful through the practice of karma yoga. And when you do the karma yoga, don't say, "I was a karma yogī, I did so much work, and nobody was thinking and saying to me, 'Thank you, why are you doing this?'" Will you share these fruits of your karma with others? So "yogāgni karmā daḍhani"—so through that fire of yoga, which? Karma yoga. All karmas will be burned away. So Mālavikṣepa Āvaraṇa, that is one of the most beautiful. So therefore, vichāraḥ, purities. Pure vichāraḥ. So, "tajde bachana kathor"—it is heat. If you want everyone to be your best friend, give up your harsh words. One harsh word, and you feel offended. Inside, you have that somebody will attack you. And someone tells something, and you say, "No, I don't want this. Oh my God." Explosive materials are inside. Go through scanning. Through the drastic vision of your guru brothers and sisters, to come to something. So that is Abu Nāth. Abu is that holy mountain, Abu Nāth. Bhagavān Kī Jai, we always say. All the people who live around that whole district, they call this the blessing of Abu Nāth. So the mountain, Abu mountain, is as holy as, or even holier than, the Himalayas. And there lived a great soul, a great person, Mother Anuśuyā. She was a sister of Bhagavān Kapila Muni. Kapila Bhagavān is whom we adore as our personal God and Lord of our Akhāṛā Mahānirvāṇī Akhāṛā. And Anuśuyā was his sister. So, when brother was such a great... what do you think about sister? She was also great. So Bhagavān Śiva, Brahmā, and Viṣṇu, they come to test her because she was like Abhidhutā, and they thought, "How weak is she?" And when they came, she turned them into small babies and put them on her lap, so they became her sons, her children. She blessed them, and all three became one—Viṣṇu, Śiva, and Brahmā. And that you will see the picture of Bhagavān Dattātreya. He is born as a child of Anuśuyā. So Kapila Muni Akhāṛā is the uncle of the Juna Akhāṛā. So Kapīla Bhagavān is Mahānirvāṇī Akhāṛā and Dattātreya is Jūnā Akhāṛā. So that Bhagavān Dattātreya had his seat and his dhūnī at the top of Mount Abu. And that's called Guru Śikhar. Śikhar is a peak, the highest peak of Mount Abu. There used to live Gurudev Dattātreya, and so that's called Guru Śikhar. And there's a beautiful cave and dhūnī. There was living Dattātreya. And there was, long ago, and still may be, Devapurījī's picture. And Mahāprabhujī. So Devapurījī and Mahāprabhujī were with the Juna Akhāṛā. And Alak Purījī was from Atal Akhāṛā. 'Atal' means unmovable. So now the Nirañjanī Akhāṛā and Atal Akhāṛā merge together. So the Ācārya Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara is from Nirañjanī Akhāṛā, and then beside him sits the Atal Akhāṛā. Because Devapurījī is from Atal Akhāṛā, and I am the head of that Devapurījī, Alakpurījī Siddhāpīṭha. So they consider me as from Atal Akhāṛā. And Mahānirvāṇī Akhāṛā considers me as a Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara of the Mahānirvāṇī Akhāṛā. It's not a big difference. It's Uncle. One father had five children, and one brother was this, one brother was that, but it's a story. So, Abhinātha is the highest title, but Abhinātha. So, Abhinātha is that Bhagavān. So, if you go to India, go to Guru Śikhar, go to Nakhī Talāb, and take abhiṣeka from there, from that bank where Devapurījī's Ghāṭ is. It is great. And it is that when Devapurījī took samādhi in Kailash, he appeared around Abu Parvat and his district. So in many villages he appeared where there is a Samādhi of Devapurījī. So what do you know? You don't know. You should know. Yes? So purification is important from such a holy tradition and such a sanātana dharma. So we shall go one day. Gufāī is not so big. The cave is not so big. You can go inside with five, six, or ten people. Generally, they don't let anyone go in, and I was lucky. In 1965, I slept in that cave with Holy Gurujī. We traveled. At that time, there were more forests. There are many, many other āśrams and buildings and hotels now. It became a tourist place. Even around Guru Śikhar, where his dhūnī is, there are many, many hotels, meat, alcohol, and tourists. It became like a hippie center. But still, our sādhus are preserving that dhūnī. And when I was there, there was only this cave. Not even one small tea hotel. And we walked down from the temple Nakhī Talāb. And we were told, "Don't go in the afternoon," because it was two or three hours of walking. Then it becomes evening and dark. Even now, there are a lot of bears, tigers, and different animals. Now, there is the road. You sit in the car, you are five minutes up. So, me and Gurujī, we started at 8 o'clock in the morning, and there was one guide more, Dr. Gurujī, and Gurujī knew this because before that Gurujī was there in that area where Mahāprabhujī is, and tiger comes—you know the other story. So we had to cross many small creeks, thorny bushes, just a walking path that side, up, down. Gurujī was strong and young. I was a little boy. Oh, God, I had to run, and Gurujī said, "You are young, you can't be tired." I said, "I was drinking water, very nice water was flowing." All is destroyed, pollution, but that holy energy no one can destroy. So, Guru Śikhar—if you go, then you should go to Guru Śikhar. And go to the Dattātreya Bhagavān cave, and then a little up you go to Anuśuyā Temple; there is Mother Anuśuyā's Temple. So they are great, great things. So today I tell you, because Devapurījī's Mahāsamādhi day, and Divine Mother Śakti Pārvatī comes. So, my dear, these worldly desires... Are the obstacles why you are longing? "I want to marry and have a child." There are many children; take one, adopt one. What is that? Is there an aim to that? But without children, we can't live also. Anuśuyā also had a child. She was a virgin. She was a virgin. She just took Śiva, Brahmā, and Viṣṇu as her own children in three places. So, take it like that; nobody prohibits you. Sit under the tree and say, "Abunāth, do you listen to me? I want one baby. Now, what will I do? How will I declare this child? Who is the father? I stole, perhaps." So, my dear, such a desire is forgotten. And if then it comes in front of all, oh yes. If that be like that mother, so my dear, you all should have children, at least a minimum of six to eight. At least. Yes, let the father work. You take care of the babies. That's how we will turn Kali Yuga into Satya Yuga. Therefore, apartho. So, our saṅkalpa is this year: that you in your next life should come as great holy yogīs and help support to turn Kali Yuga into Satya Yuga. What means your next life? Your children. Understand? Yes. Good. Truth. Rest tomorrow this evening. We wish you a very, very nice day, nice, good, light food, and good practice. Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān, Devī Svarmadhā, Madhya Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān, Om Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ.

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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