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Inner purification

A morning satsang featuring a discourse by Swāmījī and a guest lecture by Professor Vašek on traditional knowledge, language, and inner purification.

"He who does not have knowledge of his own self... Only he heard too much, a lot. He doesn't know the meaning of the śāstras... Like the spoon doesn't know the taste of soup."

"So this is full, that is full... From fullness or from the full, full arises. And if you take fullness from fullness, only fullness will remain."

Swāmījī opens the session, discussing how modern technology erodes innate mental capacities and the importance of languages like Sanskrit as brain exercises. He introduces Professor Vašek from Charles University, who speaks on the depth of Indian philosophical inquiry, citing verses from the Mahābhārata and the Kena and Īśā Upaniṣads. Swāmījī then elaborates on the science of mantra, the stages of practice from writing to silent repetition (likhita to ajapā), and the path to Brahman through purifying the senses and adhering to dharma. He concludes by proposing a large traditional yajña and bids farewell before a trip to India.

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Oṁ Tat Savitur Vareṇyaṁ Bhargo Devasya Dhīmahi, Dhiyo Yo Naḥ Pracodayāt. Oṁ Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ. Good morning and blessings to you all. A beautiful day. A peaceful day. A holy day. Saint Nicole is coming, but he is very busy. He visited here yesterday evening. He had no time, but he was very happy, and he left something for the children. For the grown ones, he said halva is the best. So there were no chocolates and nuts. Indeed, it was a very nice weekend. We have learned a lot, but what is important now is inner purification. Before I speak a little, I would like to introduce to you dear Professor Vašek from Charles University in Prague, from the Indology department. He teaches Tamil language, Hindi, Sanskrit, Bengali, and of course Czech and English, and also German. I think computers are developed according to language. So when one brain has so many languages, then it should also know which button has to be pressed. The brain is made by nature or by God to store and preserve knowledge. There are immense capacities, immense energies, miracles inside. But we don't know, and if we don't know, we don't utilize it. We exhausted ourselves with this material world, and therefore we lost our own ability. Very systematically, in a very clever way, they made our brain wash. At the beginning of the last century, they gave us a pen and paper to write our address, name, and telephone number. And some songs, but we knew by heart many telephone numbers and addresses and everything. Then they brought a further system to write a daily diary and note everything, including everyone's telephone numbers and addresses. So we were searching in the diary, not in our brain. Then they gave us telephone technique. We can register numbers and addresses in the telephone. Now, very few people are left who know 20 to 50 telephone numbers by heart. The condition is like that. Now we need not dial a number, just press one button. So it means even we lost our number. We don't know what our number is. So far we have come, so slowly, slowly our memories, our brain activities are taken away. Okay, telephone is okay maybe, but now they manipulated so much that we don't know how to go home. So we have a navigator. It's terrible. You know all the streets of Prague, and you could go freely and know who is living or where you are living. But now we use the navigator. We don't see the street. We don't see anything. Just the navigator says left and right, left and right. So certain languages, they are not only knowledge and language, but exercise for the brain. It doesn't let the brain get a virus. If you want to have a language of the knowledge, the science, then there are only three or four languages in the world: Sanskrit, Latin, Old Greek, and Parsi. The rest is borrowed from these languages and mixed in many qualities. Well, in the friend, if we put a mastic, and we burn the mastic, and the sun is shining, and I tell the sun, "Look at this light," the sun smiles. So, in front of the professor, I am like a little mystic. So, I would like to invite our dear professor Vāśek, and his name Vāśek means "the speaker" in the Sanskrit name. So, he chose the good profession. So, dear professor, the floor is yours. Professor Vašek: Swāmījī, thank you for the opportunity to speak here and say a few words. I have to thank you and all for the friendly atmosphere, which is an important experience in this modern and rather disturbed world. And at the same time, I started automatically in English. I have to apologize; we are in Moravia, I should speak Czech. But it seems that speaking about Indian topics is somehow more natural for me in English. You know, I teach every day, but, you know, having this experience here, I'm reminded of a verse from the Mahābhārata. Ale s touto zkušeností tady se mi připomňala jedna sloka z Mahabharaty, nebo verš z Mahabharaty. Jasya nāsti nija prajñā, kevalaṁ tu bahuśrutaḥ, na sa jānāti śāstrārthaṁ, darvī sūparasaṁ yathā. He who does not have knowledge of his own self. Ten, kdo nemá znalost, je sám. Vlastní poznání, znalost. Only he heard too much, a lot. He doesn't know the meaning of the śāstras, of the textbooks, of the sciences. Like the spoon doesn't know the taste of soup. So, in that context, I should like to repeat my thanks for having this experience as a modern, scientifically-sounding interpretation, or interpretations, say, in this biofield. Which could be described as a modern scientific language in this biopoly, and to analyze very exactly, to very subtle points, various aspects of the existence of us, of nature, of the universe. So this started already about 3,000 years back, maybe 3,500 years back, with the analysis of the Vedic texts, oral tradition, and description and preservation of these texts as exact as possible without changing the pronunciation. Obviously, when we want to understand something, we have to ask the proper questions. And when we want to understand something, we must, of course, ask the right question. A indická tradice má tuto zkušenost, ptát se na ty správné otázky. Například v jedné Upaniṣadě jsou tyto otázky všechny řečeny. This is the Kena Upaniṣad, the beginning of it. Kena means by what. By what sent and propelled is mind flying? Čím? Čím? Jakým způsobem? Poslaná a postrkovaná, skoro by se chtělo říci, je mysl. Ešitam, prešitam, jsou tam dvě synonyma, nebo polosynonyma. Letí mysl. Ke neśitam pataty preśinapmanach? Ké na prāṇāch prathamāch prajty yuktāḥ? By whom is the first prāṇa, breath, delivered? And linked, put on the way, sort of. Kým je vlastně dodána první prána, první dech, a kým vlastně se to rozjede. Kéne śitám váčami mám vadanti, by whom sent this speech do, bracket, people, speak. Kým odeslanou, vyslanou řeč mluvějí, mluví, rozumějme Cakṣuḥśrotraṃ kaudevo yunakti. And which God links the eye and the ear? And which God connects the eye and the ear? So this is one of the questions, and of course in India the tradition was able to give so many answers to that. So this is very, very important for the development, in fact, even of some sciences starting from the 18th century. First, phonetics and grammar, and all that, it was really started in a new way thanks to the contact with India and knowledge of Sanskrit. But on the other hand, ancient Indians also had knowledge and interpretation of not only human language, but also other levels of existence, if I may put it that way. I carry on with Czech, but the moment I hear you, I listen to you. One of the answers you obviously know also from the Upaniṣadic texts. Aha, of course I should have started with OM, but that was, I was in the text and in the meaning. Měl jsem samozřejmě začít s OM, ale byl jsem v tom textu. A vy určitě tento citát jste zažili: ono tamto je plné, toto je plné, z plného vzniká plné, nebo mohli bychom říkat z plnosti. So 'pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate. So this is full, that is full, this is full. From fullness or from the full, full arises. And if you take fullness from fullness, only fullness will remain. The moment we take fullness from fullness, fullness remains. So, I'm not so experienced in the practical application as you are. Most of my life, I did what you call the brain work. And of course, it brings some interesting experience, but then there is also the important aspect, and that is practice. And I think in India this was always, in various ways, put together, which of course we Europeans can learn and try to apply, but with your blessings. Because we do not have the tradition of fully giving up and merging into the subject, topic, reality, higher reality, etc., so let me once again thank you for this experience, which also puts me, or gives me, important inspiration. Thank you for that. And once again, I apologize for the English, but it's just somehow natural in the case of English topics. So thank you. Swāmījī: So thank you, dear Professor Vašek. Thank you, dear Professor Vašek. So when a professor speaks, then we are all students. And professors, teachers always have a habit of making corrections. And unfortunately, many students don't like to make a correction in front of all. But it is said, the iron you can bend only when it is hot. So on this spot, professor has a duty to make correction. Thank you very much. This is a reflex, you know, not automatic. And yes, indeed, in India there is huge knowledge; the library is full of the beautiful, beautiful śāstras. But unfortunately, rare people are left, even they can read that. And if you can't read and understand, you cannot develop. It is like a science of the mantra. First comes likhita, meaning written. Akṣara Brahma. That's why it's called Devanāgarī language. Dev-nāgrik, nāgrik are the citizens. Deva is goddess. That language is given to the citizen of the goddess. And therefore the alphabet is called Devanāgarī. And that's why it's called Dev Bhāṣā, the God's language. So only the language's name and explanation, the translation of the language, tells everything. Akṣara Brahma. Therefore, each alphabet represents the Brahman. So this Sanskrit alphabet, which is Hindi, Hindi is a sub-language, same alphabets. There was a great saint, Vālmīki. And his story is long, I will not tell you. He was a criminal. Then he meets the great saint and changes his entire life within half an hour. And he became a great saint, Vālmīki. And he wrote the entire life of God Rāma in Sanskrit. It's called Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. That is one of the best written and best Rāmāyaṇas. But due to the Sanskrit language, not all understand. So, Tulsīdās wrote in the local language. Everyone could understand. That's why the Rāmcaritamānasa, the holy book Rāmāyaṇa, is more famous; people like it more. So to understand, if you understand, then you can accept or enjoy. So Akṣar Brahma, the Likhita Japa, we write mantras. After comes vācikā, so that means chanting. So, as the professor said, it has been chanted, learned, and pronounced, everything, for years and years. And it's mostly in South India. We put Avatthapuri in that guru-kul, Swami Avatthapuri, but he couldn't digest. Morning, four o'clock, get up. Four-thirty, come in the class. And until nine o'clock, constantly chanting Vedas only. And with mudrās, with the hand, like you have here in some concert. Directors. So they are also chanting with the hand, with the hand mudrās. Mudra is indication, mudra is a language. That's a silent language. If you saw someone's tongue, you need not speak anything. That's enough language. So, and if you say something without saying a word... So mudrās are changing our inner attitude. And that influences the outer world, so understand the alphabet. Mantras, and then pronouncing. And the pronunciation is so fine, so gentle, we can make a big mistake. It's very hard to write Sanskrit in other alphabets. If you make a little mistake, we call Kuntī, Kuntī. And Europeans often can't pronounce Kuntī, they say Kutī. Female dog. Kutiyā, Gurudev kī Kutiyā, the heart of the Gurudeva. But 99.8% of you can't pronounce Kutiyā. You will say Kutya, a dog, but Czech language is more difficult than Sanskrit. You know, before you learn the Czech language, you have to twist your tongue many times a day. After, so first the vision, the sound, and then transfer into the mind, mānasik. Upamśu. And then comes Ajapa. Likhita, vācikā, mānasik, upāṁśu, mānasik, and ajapā. So this is a training for the human brain, not to store rubbish things inside. So-called materialism. The wise person does not value material things. Then their memory, their vṛttis, their actions are balanced. They will never have stress, what we call the stress. But those who have not this training of that wisdom, then they are a bag of garbage, full of stress. It will break. So, I think in ancient times, the saints, the wise people, they experienced, they made an experiment, and then they gave it to the humans. Professor said that the Upanishad said, "Who was that first? This beautiful prāṇa energy exhaled or gave to us?" And which energy he gave, cakṣu, which we spoke about last time, the eye, the vision. When the eye is gone, social life is gone. Ears, the hearing, when that is lost, the whole satsaṅg is gone. So think how this prāṇa was divided and given. Take care. Don't abuse. Only use what you need. Then you have a happy, healthy, and long life. For that was given the science of yoga. Yoga is manifested in the whole human body and is connected to the unity. Jīvā and Śiva: the jīvā, the individual soul; Śiva is the universal soul. So there is a big gap between Brahmā and Māyā. So as long as we are in Māyā, we are detached automatically from Brahman. And carefully we go towards Brahman, we are automatically getting detached from these worldly problems. He saw a grinding mill to grind the corn. So he saw that on the top they put the whole wheat inside, and out comes all powder. Kabīra begins to cry. Between these two stone plates, which are rubbing, nothing remains complete; all are crushed. So one stone is Brahman, and the other is Māyā. Between this is the fight, and so whatever comes between them, it will all be ground into the powder. But there is a hope to remain complete. That, if you come somehow to the middle point, where there is one rod inside, which is holding the boat, if you remain stuck there, you will be complete. So that hold is a dharma. That hold is Gurudev. That hold is a saint. Then we can come to Brahma. Sūradāsa said, "This is a fight between Brahma and Māyā." So the first thing is inner purification: anger, ego, hate, jealousy, and revenge. If this we can purify, we are very close to Brahman. But still, till the last breath, we have to be careful. Our dharma, our duties, let it flow like a river with the water. The river has the curves, not the water, but this water will face many rocks, thorny bushes, sometimes an island, it will divide everything, then again will come in, but be sure it will flow to the origin, to the ocean. So in the same śloka mantra, what the professor was saying, where the ṛṣi said, "jihvā me madhumattamā," "on my tongue should be sweetness like honey," it means I should speak beautiful words, wise words, like honey. These are the many mantras to purify the five indriyas. Jñāna indriyas and karma indriyas. So when the Upaniṣad says, this mantra, when you chant this, it influences our eyesight or our hearing, the ear, the nose, the taste, the touch, etc. So next time we will think, and I was thinking yesterday, we shall make a very big yajña in Střilky. We have to have 15 pundits and 11 days and either 9 or 11 fireplaces. Very traditional, very original, everything, and our main guider, organizer, I ask Mr. Professor to be. Yes? It should be, it should prove scientifically what change comes. I think this will be great. Great. Okay? Don't worry. I can keep you busy all the time. Never worry. Don't think that Swamiji will say, "Now I've finished Om Ashram, now I'll be relaxed." There is no relaxation, so it is said. How can I rest until I have finished my duty to my Lord? What a way of love! He's awakened, and you are sleeping. Next time. Wish you a good journey, and the next webcast will be from India or from different countries. Wish you all the best, and God bless you. Drive carefully. Come safe at home. I am in India for 15 days. So, those who are coming, welcome. And then, as Mahāprabhujī's blessing, we will see in summer here, in summer.

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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