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Thinking of Gurudev

Mahāsamādhi is not an absence but a change in the mode of presence. The physical form is a concentration of divine energy for easier communion. That energy is not bound by the body. The Guru's presence is activated by the devotee's call through love, prayer, and meditation. This principle operates now and will after Mahāsamādhi. The Guru incarnates due to the soul's call. Connection depends solely on the devotee's bhakti. Physical proximity is a convenience, not a necessity.

"Whenever my devotees think on me, I will be present."

"I am here because of the call of your soul."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Praṇām Gurudev, Hari Om, everyone. When I arrived here and saw the Christmas decorations, I was somewhat surprised. For me, this time is truly about the celebration of Mahāsamādhi; that is what I was expecting. I think, to a degree, this preference also reflects a desire to escape from the reality of Mahāsamādhi. Are we actually happy to celebrate Mahāsamādhi? It is the day when Gurudev left us. Fundamentally, it is a day when we are unhappy, perhaps even crying. The feelings are very similar to when someone passes away. This is a topic we must face directly. When Mahāprabhujī announced his coming Mahāsamādhi to Holī Gurujī, Holī Gurujī first could not believe it. Then he said, "Do you leave us then alone?" Mahāprabhujī, knowing the state of his mind, replied, "Whenever there are devotees who concentrate on me, I will be there ready to help them." You must listen carefully. He did not say, "I am always there." He said, "When there are devotees who think on me." Now, the situation of the Mahāsamādhi itself, as described in the Līlā Amṛt: Mahāprabhujī said, "My dears, my dears, in case you still have any wishes, tell me now, for soon I will say goodbye to you." For some moments, there was silence. Then came the only question from all present: "Master, are you leaving us alone here?" I think this is precisely our question regarding Mahāsamādhi. When we speak about Mahāprabhujī’s Mahāsamādhi, we indirectly speak also about Swāmījī’s Mahāsamādhi. We know it will happen one day, and Swāmījī has already announced it a few times. So, for me, the topic is: how to deal with this. Mahāprabhujī’s answer was: "Don’t be afraid. You are with me always, and I am with you." But then he adds, "Whenever my devotees think on me, I will be present." No matter what country, what place, what year it is—in altar, so the altars also. In one satsaṅg, Swāmījī raised the question very clearly. How is it actually possible to communicate with Gurudev when he is gone? It is like a drop of water falls into the ocean, and now we want to get it back. This is how samādhi is described. And this is Mahāsamādhi, the final dissolution in the ocean. So what is it now, actually? What brings this drop back to us? The answer was given two times now here in Līlā Amṛt. Mahāprabhujī said, "Whenever my devotees think on me, pray to me, meditate on me." This means it depends on us when we call Gurudeva. Then, actually, Gurudeva is present. And that is not only a question of Mahāsamādhi; it is also true now. Just now we are in the physical presence of Gurudeva, but most of the year we are not. Swāmījī likes to express things sometimes in a very funny way. I remember once when he was in Jadan, Swamiji said a little bit ironically, "I see in some auras some fishes swimming." I said, "No, my disciples, they say, ‘Swamiji is not here, he doesn’t know.’ But they don’t know, in the moment when they say this, they..." Call me, and then I’m already there. That’s basically exactly the same thing. When we sing to Gurudev, however, then we call, then actually the connection comes. But how is it possible that this drop comes out of the ocean again? I think we must understand it; there must be some magnet. It is actually our love, our bhakti, which brings the presence of Gurū Dev. We can come to the question: why does Gurudev incarnate in the world at all? The liberated soul in Brahmaloka doesn’t need anything, no karma, so why does he come? Swamiji gave the answer himself. He said, "I am here because of the call of your soul." For years, it was the title of the audiotapes of us: "Call of the Soul." So, in the moment when we mentally connect to our feelings, to our bhakti, and connect with Gurū Dev, then he is present. In that way, it does not matter if Gurudev is actually physically, in a physical body in the world or not anymore. That works now. For example, if Swāmījī were in Australia and we think of him, we pray to him, we meditate on him, then he is here. And when Gurudev is gone, finally, in Mahāsamādhi, the same is valid. So the energy, the divine energy, concentrates in the physical form. That makes it easy for us to communicate now with Gurudev. But it’s not depending on the physical form. The physical form is like the concentration of the divine energy. It is concentrated in the physical body, but when we have the love, the bhakti, the devotion, then still this energy comes to us. So in this way, we can anytime get in touch with Gurū Dev, get the blessing, the guidance of Gurū Dev. It depends on us, on our bhakti. Krishnanand from Hungary is here. You will translate. Yes, again. Not so far, yes. Praṇām Gurudev, dear brothers and sisters, dear yoga friends. Praṇām Gurudev, dear brothers and sisters. We talked about luck, and I feel myself really lucky that I have met Gurujī, I met Swāmījī, and through Swāmījī I experienced his love. Being with Gurujī meant being with Mahāprabhujī, because in Gurujī’s presence, Gurujī emanated Mahāprabhujī’s love. And the fact that he was in Guruji’s presence meant that he was in the presence of Mahāprabhujī, because through Guruji, the love of Mahāprabhu had arisen. Maybe I would tell you a very interesting story. I would tell you a story. When Swamiji called Pozhan to Bratislava, there we met Swamiji and Gurujī, Gurujī and Gurujī. It was in July 1980. As mentioned before, it took a year to prepare and organize the opportunity for Holy Gurujī to come to Hungary. Most of you are too young to know how many difficulties we had to go through to organize a visa at that time. Swami Ji so ordered that I had to take my Guruji to Budapest in my giant car, my Trabant. It’s all right. So I saw Swāmījī also getting in the car, so then we started off to Budapest. And at one crossing, Swamiji’s car also stopped, and he said, "Okay, now, good journey to you," and he left. So we were going to Budapest without Swamijī. And Swamiji just advised that at the border, you just request a visa to Gurujī. Now I could say I feel ashamed, but then I replied to Swamījī, "Sorry to say, Swamījī, but it’s impossible." Swamiji replied, "Yes, it might be impossible for you, but for Mahāprabhujī, nothing is impossible." Yes, I said, yes. We arrived at the border, or at least close to the border, three kilometers from the border. We got into the end of the queue. And so we reached the border, or the border was three kilometers from the front, and we reached the end of the front. In three minutes, I just noticed that Gurujī said Mahāprabhujī’s name, got out of the car, and started walking. Can you imagine my thoughts, you know, oh my God, what will happen? In a couple of minutes, 10 or 15 officers arrived. In 10-15 minutes, 15 soldiers arrived. They took me out of the line and told me to go to the border through the diplomatic line. They took me out of the line and told me that I had a diplomatic belt, and they took me there with the diplomatic belt. Next to the officer’s building, there was a small rise where Gurujī sat. He took his instrument and started to sing Mahāprabhujī bhajans. In all eight gates, crossing the border, life stopped, and all the officers came there. Ečký provod, egy marékkal. And I could hear he was mentioning Mahāprabhujī’s blessing, Mahāprabhujī’s kṛpā. They took Gurujī’s passport and told him that it’s impossible to get a visa at the border. It should have been requested in India. So Gurujī went back and sat again on that small hill, small rise, and started to sing bhajans again. Then the main officer, the head officer, appeared and just stamped the entry permission into the passport and let us go. And then he took the main piece and just tore it into pieces. In Budapest, when Swamiji arrived two days later, there were still many, many interesting stories. I believe that this can never be forgotten, but maybe I will continue this on another occasion. I would like to conclude with the following: it was really true for Viśva Gurujī that nothing is impossible for Mahāprabhujī, and Gurujī called Mahāprabhujī, as it was said in the story, as Gajānandajī said. And today, Mahāprabhujī made my life. So, after this, even to Budapest and up until two days more, when Viśwa Gurujī finally arrived, so many things happened that I will not detail now, maybe at another time. But surely I can say that, as Vishwagurujī promised, Mahāprabhujī took care of everything. This is something that you will never forget. This is why I tell you that I feel lucky to have experienced this miracle. Thank you for your attention.

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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