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Aim of the Master

The living transmission of knowledge requires a master, a disciple, and the spoken wisdom. A technique dies if not passed on. The master aims to make the disciple a master, surpassing the philosopher's stone which only transforms. Good qualities must be transmitted to be perfected. This process is defined by Śruti, Śrotriya, and Śrota. Śruti is the authentic scripture. The Śrotriya is the master who understands and explains it. The Śrota is the listening disciple. Without this chain, knowledge is lost. Reading a book differs from learning from a realized teacher. The transmission must be accurate to become Smṛti, or remembered tradition. This system upgrades spiritual understanding. What you receive, you must give. This protects and elevates all.

"Śruti is that which is taught by the Master."

"A Satguru is one who is Brahmaniṣṭha—a knower, a realizer of Brahman. He is the Śrotriya who can speak about Brahman."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Praṇām Gurudevo. Hari Om, dear friends, brothers, sisters, and all who are observing via webcast. We are all greatly blessed to be here in the Střílecké Āśram. An āśram is truly our home, a place to do something good for ourselves and for others. When we have a few days of holiday, it is good to do something truly beneficial for our body, mind, and soul. This weekend, beginning this evening, is dedicated to yoga teachers as part of a seven-day program. As you can see, this hall is not big enough for all of us, and still, not every yoga teacher and assistant is present. Yet it is wonderful to see, for our family of Yoga in Daily Life is so large and so interconnected. We are like a family in a family home. It is very important that so many people are in this small hall, and everyone is happy. To be with Svāmījī, to be in satsaṅg, is something priceless, of immense value. For all of us yoga teachers to be gathered in one place is also very fortunate, as we have a great opportunity to learn from Svāmījī and from each other. Sharing experience is crucial for our inner development. This week, we will have a beautiful program with Svāmījī. As he said, we will not merely learn; we will be updating and upgrading our software. Why do I say this? Because Svāmījī always emphasizes two important principles: Kāla (Time) and Deśa (Place). We have an ancient system of Yoga in Daily Life, but we also possess the experience and knowledge relevant for today. I often joke: when I began practicing yoga with Sarva Hita Āsanas and those exercises for the palms, if you had said 30 or 40 years ago that they were excellent for people who work with a mouse, others would have thought you worked in a laboratory. Why are you working with a mouse? In just 30 years, so much has changed. We started with large tape recorders, and now we don't even have tapes. Svāmījī is always inspired to move with the times—not to stay in one place but to develop and progress with the era. What is vital is that Yoga in Daily Life does not lose the quality of ancient times; rather, that quality evolves with time. This is the greatness of the system. Yet, the system of Yoga in Daily Life without our paramparā and without Svāmījī is nothing. To be in an āśram with a truly living paramparā, to be with Gurudev, the author of the system, is a great fortune. It is a blessing to learn from the source. Imagine, it is not so easy nowadays to learn yoga directly from its origin, and we have this opportunity to learn and practice yoga from the source of knowledge. In my opinion, this is a great blessing for all of us. To have a seven-day program like this is truly special. What is also crucial is not to waste time. We have 365 days in a year. But when we are at a seminar, when we are with Gurudev, we must be, as Svāmījī said all last week, chetan—aware, conscious. We know the story: many people go to the riverbank to fetch water. How much water you can take depends on the capacity of your pot. If the pot has holes and we are not aware, not chetan, then we have many holes. It does not depend on Svāmījī how much water we take; it depends on our own capacity. To have a greater capacity to receive this divine nectar depends on our sādhanā throughout the entire year. I am very happy this seminar is beginning now. Thank you. Shrī Deep Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān We are all your servants, and we are under your shelter. We are all bhaktas, and we dedicate our devotion to you. Omah Prabhudeep. Good evening, and welcome to all of you. All dear ones, I am happy to see you. You had a long journey, but finally you are here. You were looking forward, and I was longing forward. This is different. Someone was looking forward, but someone was longing for it. That is the relation of the master and the disciple. The journey was long; you are tired. Relax. It is said: what you have, give it. Otherwise, it will get lost. This means whatever knowledge, talents, or techniques you possess, you must pass them on. Otherwise, they are lost. A technique dies with you. Therefore, in our system, the teaching from master to disciple is paramount. It is a chain, a continuity: father, son, grandson, great-grandson. This is how a dynasty continues. So it is: master to disciple, to disciple, to disciple. But the one who becomes a master is the one who masters the teachings and instructions given by the Master. The aim of the Master is to make the disciple more than himself, to create the best Master. There is a stone called Pāras (the philosopher's stone). When iron touches the Pāras stone, that iron turns to gold. This is the speciality of Pāras. However, Pāras cannot create another Pāras stone; it only turns iron to gold. A Master, however, makes a master. This is the difference. Similarly, all of us here have good qualities and also many bad qualities. The bad qualities you need not pass on; let them get lost. But the good qualities, talents, and good ideas—give them further. They will be modified and brought to perfection. This is called śruti and smṛti. Śruti is that which is taught by the Master. Śruti, Śrotriya, and Śrota are the three components. Śruti refers to the authentic scripture, the Vedas and Upaniṣads, spoken by great saints and seers. Now, who understands this Śruti? Who can transmit it further? That person is the Śrotriya, the one who can speak and explain it. The holy book is written, but you need someone to explain it. The technique is there, the instruments are there, the injections are there, the operating theatre is there. Everything is very clear. But if you did not learn from your professor or surgeon how to operate, could you do it? You could try to operate on your father's brain. I'm sure you could open it, but how would you close it again? It's written in a book how to do it. The instruments, theatre, and anaesthesia are there, but you didn't learn. So the śāstras, the śruti, are there. You can read, you can understand, you can explain, but you have not achieved perfection. That is why it is said: tons of theory are nothing compared to a grain of practice. And that practice you must receive from the Śrotriya. Thus, it is said: Brahmaniṣṭha Śrotriya Parivrājakāchārya Paramahaṁsa Satguru Dev. This is the title. A Satguru is one who is Brahmaniṣṭha—a knower, a realizer of Brahman. He is the Śrotriya who can speak about Brahman. He speaks about the Śruti. The Śrotriya is the master. And the Śrota is the disciple. So you are all here as Śrotas. I am the Śrotriya, giving you first-hand knowledge from the Śāstras, Smṛtis, Śruti, and Purāṇas. This is the perfect way of learning. Otherwise, you might say, "I read the same thing in the book; there's no difference." But to read a holy book and to listen to a reading from a holy person are different. Without Śrota and Śrotriya, knowledge does not progress. There must be a giver and a receiver; otherwise, everything is lost in space. Here, almost all of you are instructors, diploma holders, teachers of Yoga in Daily Life. You have many disciples, and your disciples have other disciples. This is the chain work. How is yoga spread around the world? If it is of real quality, it is long-lasting. If it is not good quality, it is "use and throw." Sometimes you practice one technique, then go to another, then another, and end up nowhere. What we have here, the knowledge you possess, we must pass on. This is called upgrading. There is hardware, there is software, and there is spiritual wear. We are here to upgrade our spiritual wear. That is very important. Welcome to you all. We have a beautiful program which will be announced shortly. We are divided into six groups, each with a different subject. The groups will rotate daily. One group may learn about āsanas—Sarva Hita Āsana steps one, two, and three. Another may study the nāḍīs and cakras. Another may focus on the physical aspects of yoga: benefits, physiotherapy, anatomy. Each group will have three or four teachers. You must be on time and bring something to write with. Mornings will be for instruction; afternoons will be for questions—not your questions, but the teachers' questions about what was taught in the morning. This is the first sādhanā camp, a seminar that will be repeated in different places. This is upgrading, renewing, checking your memory and talents, and correcting mistakes. I am looking forward to it. For you, this is a beautiful first-time seminar. Enjoy this wisdom. We also welcome the assistant teachers; they are our future. And there are some here for general practice; they are our experimental subjects. We will choose them for practice—our experimental models. That is good. Welcome. Tomorrow's program will be announced later. Remember: from the Vedas, Śrutis, Upaniṣads, and Purāṇas—from what was spoken (Śruti)—comes the Śrotriya, who can speak and explain. We are the Śrotas, the listeners. Then they will teach further; this is called Smṛti (memory). So systematically: Śruti, Śrotriya, Śrota, Smṛti. It depends on whether you can transmit first-hand information accurately. If your memory is exact, that is Smṛti. Then you can give pure knowledge further. If you lack that Smṛti, you cannot speak or transmit. There, the river dries up; it does not flow to the ocean. Remember these words: Śruti, Śrotriya, Śrota, Smṛti. Through this, what you have, you can give. Without this, even if you have knowledge, you cannot transmit it. This is the science of yoga and of life, designed for human well-being. Physical, mental, social, and spiritual health are necessary to be a good protector—to protect the environment, wildlife, lakes, ponds, rivers, and humanity. Protection lies in protection. If you protect, you will be protected. If you drive carefully, you protect others and yourself. If you don't believe it, try driving at 150 km/h on the highway with the intent to harm someone; you will be harmed first. If you protect, you protect yourself. Protection is in protection. We will have a beautiful time. If the weather is good, we will be on the meadow. We will have the opportunity to be all together twice a day. Therefore, we can say proudly: Ānandoham, Ānandoham. Śrī Śrī Devpurījī Mahārāj Dharam Samrāj Satguru Svāmī Madhvanām Jīvāgwan Om Śānti Śānti

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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