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Pranām Swamijī is a preparation for Guru Paramparā. It is easy to say something about Gurujī when you have Swamījī beside you, who, of course... But anyhow, let us say, by way of comparison, I would describe Gurujī as learning how to drive an Ambassador car, whereas Swamījī tries to teach us to drive a Ferrari. One must understand that driving a Ferrari in India is a little bit suicidal. But equally, driving an Ambassador in Austria would be the same. First of all, it is very nice to be here in Villach, because as the name says, Fil-lah. It is nice that Swamijī brought a lot of Indian climate here, besides the orange. And, of course, it brought Mahāprabhujī’s life into this town. To understand Mahāprabhujī’s life, how it works and how it manifests itself, we definitely have to see Gurujī as an integral part of it. Gurujī was a perfect instrument. He realized that the Mahābhārata is 100%. He became Mahāprabhujī’s tool, and he brought it forward; he brought Mahāprabhujī’s message to this world. I guess without him, Mahāprabhujī’s līlā would be different. When I saw Gurujī for the first time, it was in a picture that Swamījī presented to every one of us in the beginning of the eighties. It was a picture of Gurujī sitting in a garden, and I thought, yes, that is a yogī. A yogī has to be like that, because I did not know what a real yogī is. I could not imagine what it means to be in the service of such a personality. Shortly after, I went for the first time with Swamijī to India, and I saw Gurujī in his physical form. The first moment, what impressed me most was his personality. It was just like a tiger had entered the space—self-confident, without any doubts, without any complexes, centered in himself. Every word, every movement was an expression of his inner state of mind, of his inner state of being. When Gurujī said something, I did not understand, but there was not even the question or the thought that it could be different. Whenever we had satsaṅg with Gurujī, there was one thing with him, and that was always joy. Satsaṅg was for him the joy, the bliss. To talk about one thing, what was his realization, and that is the truth. I got just a small glimpse of Gurujī’s personality and nature, and that impressed me very much. Foremost, it was his discipline. Up to now, I have not met anybody who had such discipline in his spiritual life, in his practice, in his way of living, and also in the way of sharing, except Swāmījī. Now I have lost the thread. When I was in the service of Gurujī, there were many stories happening, a lot of experience was there—hard times, very hard times, and very beautiful moments. But as we say sometimes, when things are hard and bitter, they are very sweet afterwards. And in your life, it seems to be the same. Something was very sweet in the beginning, sometimes it turns out bitter afterwards. What I very much appreciated in Gurujī was his dedication. Dedication towards mankind, dedication towards the world, dedication towards spreading Mahāprabhujī’s message through his teachings, through his bhajans, through his own bhajans, and always ready to take a lot of hardship on himself to bring that message, the truth, into the homes of the people, to his disciples, and wherever he went. Gurujī was like a beautiful flower; wherever he went, even to a place where he never was, it did not take five minutes and the bees were already coming. Sometimes there was such a crowd, literally, that it was amazing for me to see how this could happen. Everyone who came to him received something according to his capacity, his need, his desire, his wish. And everybody took something with him towards his family or friends. Gurujī was a river that was connected to the source. So it was flowing—his love, his knowledge, his wisdom. But telling the truth for Gurujī was never an easy thing. Swamijī is, in many things, very soft. And, opposite, Gurujī was in many things also very soft. But for Gurujī, it was very clear: the things always, that is right, that is wrong. And for Swamijī, sometimes he is good, very gentle, very soft, very understanding. It is not a discrimination or something; it just shows the different types of personalities. If I would compare it according to astrological or some other ways, as I said in the beginning, for me, Gurujī was a tiger and Swāmījī is a lion. And both are kings, they are always. There are many, many more things to tell about Gurujī, but coming back to the beginning, I would say Gurujī taught me how to fly an Ambassador, and Swāmījī, the Ferrari. So my question to you all is, who is driving your Ferrari? Thank you so much. Thank you, Premanājī. Now Premanājī will teach us how to fly the rocket. Okay. Thank you. Welcome, all of you. It is a beautiful day again. Yesterday was the day of Bhagavān Gaṇeśajī, Gaṇeśa Chaturthī, or the birthday of Gaṇeśa. And today is already the protection of Gaṇeśa Jī. Within all of us, every one of us, we have Gaṇeśa within our self. Which means the buddhi, the intellect, can protect us, and if you go in the wrong direction, it can destroy us. My principle is always to look within ourselves. What I wanted to achieve, what is the goal of my life, and where is my capacity. So never go out of the capacity; do not try to cross the border, but seek within the strength to stand through. To endure whatever comes, but do not let yourself get lost in those storms. There is one bhajan from Holy Gurujī, and he is saying in his bhajan, "The rope of my life is in your hands, O Mahāprabhujī." Or when you fly the kite, the thread is in your hands. So we are like a kite, but the thread is in the hand of Gurudev. So it is very important to have a solid foundation within ourselves. In these saṃsāras, in this world, all kinds of weather are there: heavy snow, the hills, floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, and a great threat to our lives. But if you have a solid foundation, a support like Devpurījī, Mahāprabhujī, and Holy Gurujī, then no storm or any natural calamity can take us away. No one can come close to the sun. What will burn will burn, what will melt will melt, and what disappears will disappear. But only the pure ātmās can come close. Within us is a kind of intuition, which is inspiration for us. We should make sure of ourselves. If I am 100% sure, clear, then my road, my way, my path is clear and free. But, Devapurījī said, a small seed of a banyan tree takes time to grow into a large tree. So, put the seeds of spirituality, put the seed of God’s name, and put the seeds of love, protection, and confidence. But be sure that not every seed will grow. I remember one day Gurujī told me that I would understand this example very well because I know this. One fruit called fig. So you know the figs? Fig is nothing but only the seeds. One fruit of fig has how many seeds inside? And if all the seeds will grow, very soon the earth will be covered with fig trees. Then, other trees have no place. So Gurujī said, the best and the rare seeds will grow. But still, your duty is to spread the seeds. When we grow a tree, it is not easy, because when we give water to the tree, a lot of weeds will grow, and these weeds are harmful for the tree. These weeds will take a lot of nutrition away from the tree. We did not give the water to the weeds but to the tree. But be aware that these weeds also have seeds and have a tendency to develop. Comes the attack of different kinds of bugs. Many insects develop. So they also have desires; they also have life. And then comes the different kind of seasons: cold, hot, rain, dry. All that the tree has to endure, and this situation makes the tree strong. What we call the problem is the best university where we can learn. Problems are there to learn something. Problems are there to solve, but do not run away from the problems. If you run away, you lose your inner principle. So the inner certainty, eternity, is very important in life. If you are a thousand people, do not expect that all love you, all will follow you, and all are your best friend. No. But who are we to judge? Because of our spiritual work, our humbleness, our kindness, our spiritual strength, and the Guru-kṛpā, nothing can happen. It is said, jispar kṛpā guru kī hoye, uspar kṛpā kare sab koye. On whom the mercy of the Gurudev is, then everyone will have mercy on that one. Even the whole world is against you, but God’s mercy is there, they cannot harm even one hair of your body. So, the Holy Gurujī said in his bhajan that mere śiro para dīpa dayāl, over me is Mahāprabhujī. Pal pal let sambhal, every second, Mahāprabhujī looks to me and takes care of me. Whatever happens, good or bad, Mahāprabhujī will, Holy Gurujī will say, it was Mahāprabhujī’s kṛpā. I cannot do anything, I cannot say anything, it was Mahāprabhujī’s decision. When that much certainty is within us, then it does not matter what happens, still your inner self should not move. It is said that even the moon and sun will change direction, and the mighty Himalayas will be shaken. But my faith and my love for my Gurudeva will never move, never shake. Because this is the only chance for us, this human life. We do not know if we will get a human life again, and this Kali Yuga is more difficult. And we know, in this Kali Yuga, how many creatures are tortured. I was coming yesterday by train, a beautiful, good Austrian train, comfortable, with small chairs. Well, that is good to practice yoga. So, always you sit like this. It was first class. I was not in the second class, which would be more comfortable, I think. No doubt, everything was perfect, and there was also one restaurant, and on every chair there was one menu card. I was surprised that in the world, only meat-eaters exist; there is no vegetarian. So, a person like me has only one chance or one choice: fasting. So if you see on your menu card the numbers of different choices, but everything is with the chicken or meat, or so on, if I will choose one of that, I do not know how it tastes, because I am from generations and generations vegetarian. But I will think before I eat: what is this? From where did it come? How did it come? Then my thoughts will go to that animal. That is also a living being. All kinds of animals, they feel pain. It is said, "Viśva prāṇī merī ātmā hai," every entity in this world is my ātmā, myself. Ātmā, so’haṁ, Paramātmā, and that Ātmā is the Supreme. So that light of the Supreme, which is in me, is also in the small creature. So the souls are recycling. You believe in recycling. What does recycling mean? We are all fighting now that we should have everything to recycle. There are bins in the street for the glass bottles, colored glass, white glass, plastics, and recyclable things, because we know what it means. So the recycling world is now more or less developed. There was no question of recycling before 60 or 70 years. Many did not understand what we mean, but now we know. The recycling word is an imitation of reincarnation. So, reincarnation or recycling is the same. When we die, this body will become good fertilizer, and it will grow good tomatoes. So we turn, our body turns into the tomatoes or pumpkin. They may eat some animals. It goes into their bodies. So now we are in there like an animal. So it is a recycling. So how many billions of creatures per day are killed? And do we never think how is their situation, their life? It does not matter if it is a fish, or a chicken, or a cow; everyone, they have a love. So when I came yesterday by train from Vienna to here, Villach, I was remembering my life here, because often from Vienna I was traveling to Graz and Klagenfurt, if you like, by these trains. So I knew every mountain and every location. I came here first in 1972, traveling anyhow. So, one station before we came to Villach, before Klagenfurt, but I am telling you this story. It is not that I was traveling here and there, of course. The train is travelling every day. The driver of the train is also travelling every day. So at one railway station, one man got out of the train, and some of his friends came to receive him. And the friend who came to receive him had one small dog, maybe three kilos, four kilos. And you cannot imagine how the dog was running towards him. He was on the chain, but he was so much biting to go close. And how happy that dog was! Out of happiness, out of love, the whole body of the dog was crumbling: the tail, the legs, the buttocks, the hand, the mouth. And that man was so much petting the dog, two minutes, not only half a minute. You cannot imagine. Both were happy, the dog and that man. I think no one loves you more than that one. When you come home, your parents, wife, or husband are happy, but I do not think like a dog. Could be a cat, could be a cow, any animal. So how much happiness do animals feel? How much love do they have? They feel happiness; they feel unhappiness. They feel pain, they feel pleasure. They feel love, they feel hate. So on this menu card, even if I am so hungry, I cannot eat that. So this is inner decision, inner clarity. Many people who follow Christianity say, "I pray for Thy mercy, O Mother Mary." This is a mantra. If you do not know, then you can accept this mantra. I pray for Thy mercy, Holy Mary, but how can we have mercy when we do not have that mercy in our heart? You marry and make an evening party. You go to the church and you pray for a blessing. Happy wedding, happy life, happy children, but at the same time, there are some pigs or some animals that are killed and boiled or cooked for your party. Will God think or cry for that creature, or give you blessing? In such a situation, asking for blessings is only on the surface. Therefore, what I speak, where I go, what I do, what I drink, and what I eat, that is called vairāgya, tapasyā, and tyāga. Vairāgya means renunciation, and tapasyā means to endure the situation. And tyāga means also to renounce. Vairāgya means to be above the situation. Inside, my faith will not move. That person will come further. Others will be recycled, like there is one factory called the Factory for the Sausage. It is the worst, the worst factory. In 1974, I met one person. He was a good friend to me, and he was a kind of priest for the Evangelical Church. His name was Fleisch Andel, Fleisch Andel, Andel, yeah, and he was—he is vegetarian, 100 percent. So we were meeting one day, we had breakfast, and I asked him, "I am surprised that you are completely vegetarian, because in Austria it is very rare to find someone." So he said when he was young, and like a soldier, after that he was searching for a job. And there is one city near Vienna, it is called Baden. And there is this sausage factory. And he got a job there. When he saw what they threw everything in, he got such an appetite from that day on, when he could not see the meat. So he said, "Thanks to that factory, I came out of this sin," and since that time, he said, "I am vegetarian." It was he telling, not I am telling you. He was introduced to me by one Duke, because the Graf Hoyos. And Graf Hoyos had a big farm near the Graf, and he had about 30-40 pony horses and people for riding. I had seminars there. So Hoyos, he introduced me to Mr. Fleisch Andel. So nowadays there is so much advertising, and they offer only this. This is a pity. So, I do not know who hears everyone through the webcast, we should all write a letter to the ÖBB, Österreichische Bundesbahn, that at least two or three options they can make vegetarian. We shall wait if they do not do their decisions. So to achieve the spiritual goal, to achieve the ātmajñāna, and to have the mercy of God, we should purify ourselves through that water of love for all creatures. From reading the books and going for one prayer and doing a little bit of meditation, this is like nothing. They are just like a matchstick showing to the sun, "I also have a light, not only you." And how long will it keep? The wind will come and blow it off. So, my dear, everything depends on ourselves. It is only we who can change ourselves. We can have many examples. And we may accept those examples, but still we have to do. It is the last milestone of this recycling or incarnation, and that is human life. If we miss this, then we have to go through. So one said, "Well, it is a culture here to eat meat." What kind of culture is this? If I have to do this, then this is not a culture. And now we also see in many parts of the world, not only animals, but humans are killed. So we pray for all, for all that God should give His mercy and blessings to all. And all the Divine Mothers, every mother is a Divine Mother. But here, because you know more about Holy Mary, we pray to her to have her mercy on all creatures. When I am coming here to this ashram, we are driving by one church, and this church is from the holy saint Assisi, Francis Assisi, and in front of the church there is one beautiful statue of him, and with so great love, he is holding a bird sitting on his palm. He was vegetarian, and I do believe that all who follow Francis are vegetarian. If I do the opposite of what Gurujī was doing, then definitely he will not be happy. If Gurujī is strict or not, only he knows. If Gurujī is strict, that means he loves you. And he only said, "Okay, good. Then it is kimchee-kimchaa." There is one bhajan from Mahāprabhujī. Gurudev is bitter. As bitter, he is more bitter than the sweet. He is the Deen Dayālu. He is merciful to all meek ones. When your mother is angry with you or your father is angry with you, be sure that they still love you very much. Because they love you, you are their child. Never say, "My mother is always angry." But you must be happy that your mother is always angry. Because she loves you, she wants to make corrections. There is an old system of making a clay pot. With the clay on one disk. And we still have this system here in Europe too, people are doing it. They make a beautiful pot. And for half an hour or one hour, they put it in the sun. Then, that potter who is making the pot takes a very soft, sponge-like material, filled with gentle, very nice cotton. And cloth over. The first time when I came to Europe, in one of the bathrooms, I saw one powder box. And besides, was there some foam? So I asked someone, "What is the soft one?" So this is for the powder. I said, "So soft?" I tried it on me, and I came like a white skin. So that potter, he takes a sponge in his hand, he holds it like this, goes inside the pot to support it, and outside he takes one wooden plate, and from outside he is beating the pot, but inside he is supporting so that the pot should not break. There is a poem about that, of which I know only half a part, but that poem says parents or Gurudev are that potter. In their heart, inside, they support you so that you will not break, so you will not disappoint. But outside, they are beating. So it is on the surface. So it is said, anger of parents or a wise person or Gurudev is like beating on the water. In the street, water is lying, and you go with the stick and beat on it. Water will go separate, and there will be a line on it. But very soon, water will come back again. So the anger of our well-wisher, one like a mother, father, brother, sister, or master, is like beating on the water. Within no time, again, they are soft to you. When your father is angry, but inside he is sorry and he loves you, he is not angry, except if he is drunk or has a mental illness. Anyone can have this problem, and the anger of some who have no knowledge is like a line on the stone, and that will remain forever. So the anger of the enemy, the anger of the ignorant persons, ends this line of the crag, the wound in the heart forever. If we are hurt with a knife, it will heal again. But if we are hurt by harsh words, it will not heal. It does not matter to any creature or any human. We should not use such language or words that cause a kind of wound in their heart. We are human. We are not perfect. God is perfect. We humans can make mistakes. But we have to correct ourselves and pray for that. In reality, we have to forgive ourselves. So, looking within ourselves, what is my quality? What is my aim? And how will I achieve this? We think with vivekā. So, and if someone made a mistake, we have a mercy that through our love, the mercy, we can melt that mistake into oneness again. Gandhijī said very clearly, "I hate the sin, but not the sinner." So this is how a great person keeps in the heart those valuable qualities to achieve what humans have to achieve. Next time I will tell you my stories in Austria and everywhere, how much I was traveling on the trains. It is very interesting. Now, through the televisions and through the internet and everything, you know what is happening in the world. How are they addressing different cultures? But that time, when I got on the train and was searching for a place to pray, people were doing the Ardha Matsyendrāsana. What do you think? Yes, that is a good exercise. And I did on the other side. Yeah, they were curious. Such people are there in this world. This color, so and so, dress, orange, but of course, they were nice. They did not say anything. They wanted to see who I was. So I walked purposely slowly. So, thank you, Premanājī, for reminding us of Gurujī’s memories. And I got a lot of love in the world, but no one could give me that which Holy Gurujī gave. So many, many lives I will be thankful and humble, full of humbleness and kindness, to accept his love. There are no words to praise the holy Gurujī’s love. And you can listen in some bhajans how Gurujī was writing. So it is said, while repeating the mantra and his name, you become yourself like him. There are two: one buffalo and one cow living together. They cannot change their color, but they can change their habits, so they can learn something from each other. So with Gurudev, we cannot be that Gurudev, but we can learn a lot, that he is within us. One day, I met someone on the airplane a few weeks ago, and he is belonging to or following a special spiritual path. I met him, and because I know this kind of uniform belongs to... That movement, the spiritual path in Sikhism, is called Nāmdārī, and I knew his master very well, and he was great. He was about, when I came to know him, he was about 90, nearly, or between 80 and 90, and really he was a saint. I met him also at the United Nations in 2000 for the Millennium Conference, so unfortunately, he passed away. But you see, the egg of the peacock bird, we said, you do not need to, you do not need to inject the color in that egg. The baby which will come out of that egg will be exactly as colorful as the mother and father. And so, as a master, the disciple who really merges into oneness will be like that. So I asked him, "Now who is the successor?" And he told me, "Who is that?" I said, "Nice, I want to see him." He said, "Swamijī, the flame is the same, only we change the pot, the dīpak." So, Mahā Holy Gurujī is the same as Mahāprabhujī, but the body is different. Burning here on the altar, we can transfer to the other pot. So the pot is changed. The light will always be the same. Similarly, those who walk on the foot of the Master’s path, they will have that light; others cannot. But we cannot force ourself. There are many, many negative layers of the impurities in us. Many lives we were cleaning. And final cleaning and polishing is the discipline. But if we pollute through our thoughts, through our words and actions, then we will not manage. So we have to decide for ourselves what this path and my Gurudeva mean for me. And so the seeds of Gurudeva’s name, I try to spread in the whole world. And many grow on into very big trees. So, these are the inner feelings. You cannot force someone to love you. The love comes from inside. This material, worldly love can disappear. And when the material, worldly love disappears, then appears the hate, anger, the fear, because that love disappeared. When the bell is cracked, then there is no more sound, no resonance. When the milk is spoiled, the butter disappears. The flame from the light is blown off. Where the flame has disappeared, the resonance is gone. The butter is lost because there was lemon, and milk becomes a fark. The lamp is blown off where the flame is gone. We do not know how to catch. Where it is similarly, when this love is lost, then you are in darkness: fear, hate, jealousy, and a lot. Then the mighty power, there is a fear, and that fear is that shadow over our peace and spiritual thoughts. So my holy Gurujī said in a beautiful bhajan that, "Mahāprabhujī, I do not ask for anything, only one thing, that every life, if I am born, let me be Thy servant." Because of which I got under Your shelter, nowhere in the entire universe can I get, or have I gotten in the past. So as Premanājī said, nām kartā, Mahāprabhujī realized this, Holy Gurujī realized this. And we try also. So I am also like you, maybe you are greater than me. There is one very nice speaker in India, and she is about 16 or 17 years old, and when she gives the satsaṅg, there come not hundreds but millions of people. Age does not matter. It does not matter if you take a diamond in a serviette or in a newspaper. But diamond is diamond. So her words, her wisdom, her realization. So one day, people asked her something. How is this possible? You are such a young child, a young girl, sitting so high up. And we old people, ninety years and eighty years, sitting down. "Can you explain how you dare to sit up?" she said. "Yes, it is very clear." What do you mean? She said, "Take one scale for weighing something." So when you put on the scale, where there are more kilos, it goes like this. And very, very little is up. So she said, "You are all great, that is why you are down." And I am just nothing, like a feather gone up. So, wisdom is wisdom. Knowledge and love we cannot measure with centimeters. So those layers of doubt, pain, and fear have to be purified. You should have that knowledge that you can turn darkness into light. So let, oh Lord, let me be light in darkness. The Upaniṣad said, "Lead us from the darkness to the light." With this, I wish you all the best, and we shall talk tomorrow about the subject of prāṇāyāma again. I wish you a good evening. I pray to Mahāprabhujī to bless all of us, and Holy Gurujī’s light be with us. Oṁ Śrī Dīpnā and Bhagavān. Devīśvara Mahādeva. Mādhav Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān kī saith Sanātana Dharma kī saith.