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Opening Ceremony and Reminiscences at Mahāprabhujī Satsaṅg Āśram

This hall, now opened, is the fruit of decades of dedication and spiritual work.

The ashram was once a farm with pig sheds. Farmers used the space for drying crops. After acquisition, they were granted extra years. A temporary hall was built, later transformed. The guru instructed to paint iron black, signaling commitment. Insulation and windows followed. Karma yogis from many countries worked. An engineer and his wife perfected the renovation. The old pig shed was converted to beautiful rooms. The hall became Saṅgam Hall for anuṣṭhānas. Thirty years ago, the place invoked fear. The guru assured it would clear. Through meditation and sādhanā, clarity came. Now it hosts conferences. Underfloor heating is planned. Donations are requested for this warmth.

"Paint the iron black."

"Don't worry, don't worry. Because other people feel the same way, this ashram will become very clear. It will help a lot of people who come here."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Good evening to all of us gathered in this hall. This is the hall where our Guru Paramparā—Alakhpurījī, Devpurījī, Mahāprabhujī—and our Satguru Dev, Swami Madhavānandajī Bhagavān, along with all our yoga practitioners, disciples, spiritual devotees, organizers, president, and everyone who has been with us from the very beginning, are present. Thank you. Thank you. Since the time of our ashram, Mahāprabhujī’s Satsaṅg Āśram, when the farmers were still bringing their work and crops here—there were four gates, big trucks coming in and drying—it belonged to them. But after we acquired all this, they asked us, “For one or two years, please, can you let us use it for our work?” Of course, we said with great respect. I told them, “Not only two years, you can have three years, or four.” They were so happy. They built a big hall, even larger than this one, on the other part of the property. And you know the condition of this hall then and now; it is completely different. We asked the authorities if we could break it down and make this hall bigger and better. But I thought, we can break and rebuild, but it would cost a great deal of money, and more or less it would end up similar. Maybe some water issues and the like. More and more of our people were coming, especially in wintertime we needed a large hall. And now we have this beautiful hall. Then we began our Anuṣṭhāna, Kriyā Anuṣṭhāna. Because many people came, we had this hall and another hall, but we were still missing something. So there was another building, a farmer’s place for pigs, but the roof peak was low, not very high. Again, our yogī friends from different countries, even from New Zealand, Australia, and elsewhere said, “What to do? We should tear it down and build new.” Can we open the windows? Now the echo will be a little better. So, how to proceed? I said, “Well, we shall dig one and a half meters deep.” There was a lot of smell from the pigs. We pulled out all the wood and put in another floor. It became beautiful, and our engineer, Vasant, raised the floor a little and created a single level. Beautiful rooms, all facilities inside. Now many people were here, and those who get a room there are always so happy, very happy. So, we are all working slowly, slowly, but we are getting it done. Now, we sat here, but many people said, “Oh my God, it’s not a good place.” No, it was what we call an old woman. But she is strong. So now, this old lady, Vasant gave her a makeover, and now, how good this makeover is. Do you like this one? Now Vasant would like to do the floor. It is good that he always asks me something. Of course, he is an engineer, so I cannot be—I am not an engineer—but I also have a little bit of knowledge. So how did we choose this color exactly? We are still working on it, but the floor… now I was sitting here, and I have so many different things going on, yes, here and there. I don’t know, my brain goes in many different directions. I thought we should give some chocolate to Vasant and his wife. What? For what? We shall make a very nice plot for them. So I said, we shall ask him before he does more work: can we install floor heating? No? Thank you. And it will be for everyone; in wintertime we will use only this. Because with flowers and everything, when it is underfloor heating for all, it warms up immediately. They say it may cost a little money to install, but electricity consumption will be minimal. We are all here, and of course we are very happy. I give you my blessing, and we are all very, very happy. And this is our ashram. How many of us are here? Can somebody count, then tell me after? Stand up and count. So, take your time. Why I am counting, I don’t know. In this, there is a lot of “Eko Brahm Duttya Nasti, Eko Brahm Duttya Nasti.” So, we will make something very nice, like some scientist who will capture this sound very well. But we have that. So, did someone count? Thank you. Thank you. And how many square meters is this? Five hundred. Very good. One square meter, how much does the heating cost per square meter? Yes, but we can calculate, no problem. If we make only one square meter, it will cost a lot. But making the whole area will not be cheaper per square meter? So, again you will say, “Swāmījī, always asking for something.” This is not for me. Now, it is for you and for all, all bhaktas who will come, four disciples will be initiated, and we have time now, today, the next day, so that he will make a calculation tomorrow. Then each of you today… how many square meters, half a square meter, a quarter square meter, two square meters—so whatever you want to give as a donation for this, not for anything else here. What do you think? Well, there are two persons who did not respond like this. And who was that? Both husband and wife. So it means they will take more money and give more themselves. Thank you very much. Then I can tell you about our Anuṣṭhāna Sādhanā. Here, it will be very nice. Because it is summer now, and wintertime… Summer and winter. So we will have something like air-conditioning for winter. But that will be another time. I will come then and do something for us. So, my dears, this is a very nice and very good light. Every hall and every program, and this center is very beautiful, and we should have only good people here. All, any; we can grade the people, but they should only be spiritual. No disturbances, no alcohol, no this, no fighting, nothing. So we can offer this. We have one hall, two halls, three halls, four halls here. You have many yoga teachers, very many, from other countries. You can bring your students here for one weekend, or the whole week; they will be so happy and so nice. So this is for all of us, not just one-on-one, but for all. Many people will come. Look how many chairs could fit if we set them up for a conference. How many? How many kilos per square meter do you have? Five hundred? So, five hundred? We could seat three, five… how many? Three, four… four hundred chairs? We can build a very nice outdoor bathroom, this and that, and this will be a conference hall. On that side, we can hold a one-day or maximum two-day conference. So people can come and have a conference. Bye bye. So many things we will do. My dears, all of you, now I will ask for an opening donation of 15 euros per meter. So, let’s say, yes. So it means, let’s say 125 euros for two meters, yes? And those who cannot do so much, you can at least do one… not a kilometer, one square meter, okay? Thank you very much. Now, today is the opening ceremony. And then our dear Bhakti Devī will dance. Before that, I would like to welcome and ask our dear Vasant. Opening ceremony. So please, is there a candle here? One more. Otherwise, take this. You have a candle here? Okay. Okay. Yeah. So here, please, in front of the altar. And you, Pochke. Pochke, please. Umāpurī, Pārvatī, and other—what is her name? Mantrapurī, Mantrapurī, and Kṛṣṇānanda, and our patient. Please light the lamp here, come. Oṃ Dīp Jyoti Parabrahma Dīpaṃ Sarve Mohanaṃ Dīpan Sajate Sarvaṃ Samyaṃ Dīpaṃ Saravṛṣakyam Oṃ Namaḥ Viṣṇu Gurudeva Viśvāra Guru Sākṣāk Parāṇam Tasmai Śrī Gurave Namaḥ Dhyāna Mūlaṃ Guru Mūrti, Pūjā Mūlaṃ Guru Padaṃ Mantra Mūlaṃ Guru Vākyaṃ, Mokṣa Mūlaṃ Guru Kṛpā Pūjyoti Parabrahma Dīpaṃ Sarve Mohanaṃ Sajyate Sarvabh Śāntyaṃ Dīpaṃ Sarvabh Satyaṃ Om Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ … Śrī Śrī… I would like to thank Gurudev for the opportunity of seva, not only for me, but for all the people who could do seva here to make this place and enable Gurudev to teach us something here. You can come near to Mahāprabhujī. More near, more near, more near. In the year 2003, we were planning to build a big hall there, and after a lot of worry and a lot of effort, we got the building permit. In 2006, we were just putting these panels on that wall, just for the time being, before we collected the money for the big hall. Maybe you remember, we thought it was temporary—we had this long fabric hanging here. And again, we saw that it was only temporary, only for the time being. But Swāmījī was walking around; he stood there and told us, “Paint the iron black.” We thought there was no sense in painting; we were planning to break it down in a year and start building. But as soon as Swāmījī touched it, as soon as Swāmījī decided, “Okay, let’s work on it,” it meant that yes, we are working on it. And thanks to Gurudev’s Līlā, slowly we were working on it. First, there was this foam insulation you can see on the roof and on these metal walls. Then the windows were made, and again, thanks to Gurujī, it is becoming the place of the real Saṅgam Hall—Saṅgam, the meeting place for us. The place of our holy Anuṣṭhānas, and truly the place for us. So again, thank you, Swamiji, for this opportunity for seva, and thanks to this seva, we can all develop who are here. So your donation box is already here. Of course, we don’t have it in our pocket right now. We have two more days. Anyone, of course, who has some company, people, or this and that, who can give some more, it will be good. I don’t think this is some winter… but next winter will be warm. Something, no? Now, you know our very dear Kṛṣṇānandajī from Hungary. You know, he always has big conferences there. So in that castle, maybe we will buy that. We will see. Otherwise, we have a big hall in the Hungarian city. Very nice. So, Krishnanandaji, please. Who is speaking? Translation? Okay. Praṇām Gurudev, all my devotion to Gurudev. And to the paramparā, whose presence we can always feel whenever we are in Mahāprabhudīp Āśram, wherever we are here in the satsaṅg. Mahāprabhujī Satsaṅg Āśram. This ashram has now spanned more than a generation, because it has been here for over 30 years. In Europe, we say that one generation is 30 years. The people who started here now have their children here. Certainly, someone will write down the history of this āśram. I can only add that when we were in Limba for 30 years, I’m sure that somebody will write the history of this whole āśram, and I can add some part to that. I remember that thirty years ago we were in Zlín—maybe at that time it was called by a different name, Ošle Dorf—and Pārvatī came and said that there is this wonderful place in the Czech Republic and maybe Swāmījī should go and see it. It was a beautiful picture, a beautiful garden with a beautiful castle, and Swāmījī said we should get into the car and go there right now. Swamiji mentioned that those who saw the castle, the ashram, the buildings, and everything at that time can imagine what it was like, but those who have come since then cannot imagine what we felt when we went into the castle. Can you imagine how it looked when we had the feeling as we actually entered the castle? I was a young man, and you know, at that time the ego is bigger, and I saw that I could do a lot. Swamiji said, “Come, come, come inside.” I said, “I would rather stay here.” Swamiji said, “Just come.” Well, I tried to go as close as possible to Swāmījī, because I was specifically afraid in the castle. Swamījī told me to come nearer and nearer, but I really didn’t want to go because I had this bad feeling. I couldn’t imagine ever sleeping there, so I tried to stay as close to Swāmījī as possible. Swamiji said, “Don’t worry, don’t worry. Because other people feel the same way, this ashram will become very clear. It will help a lot of people who come here.” There were many people who didn’t feel very well, but Swāmījī said, “Don’t be afraid, it will all be cleared up, and then a lot of people will be helped here.” Swamiji told a part of his ideas, and then, as Swamiji mentioned, karma yogīs came to help from four corners of the world: from America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Europe—almost from all countries. Swamiji spoke about his vision for this place, and a lot of karma yogīs came and started working here to make it the place we are in today. Then Vasanjī and his beloved wife, and many karma yogīs from Prague and from all parts of the country, worked a lot to make this wonderful place where actually people can meditate, and through the meditation itself the place has become so clear. Many thanks to the hundreds, or rather thousands, of karma yogīs who worked tirelessly over the last 30 years. Thanks to the many hundreds, or rather thousands, of karma yogīs, and especially to Vasanjī and his wife, for all their perfection and all their work, which they have done to become more and more perfect. And thanks to our spiritual family father, Gurujī Viśvā, who always thinks about how to create better and better circumstances for us, for our disciples, so that we can follow what we want to realize ourselves and follow our paramparā. And thanks to our family father, our Viśvagurujī, who always gives us the possibility to actually become a better person and to realize what we need by providing the necessary conditions to develop for self-realization and to follow our paramparā. Thank you for listening. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All dear brothers and sisters, and now, coming up, our dear Bhakti Devi. She will make some preparation, and then our program is: the first dance is from a Sanskrit śloka, “Tyāgarāja Gāna Amṛtam,” in Rāga Mālikā and Tāla Ādi. It’s a Gaṇeśa śloka. Gaṇeśa’s hands are always ready to give; He removes all problems. Next, a Mahā Lakṣmī śloka, “Jā Uctivam,” I adore the Goddess of Wealth, Bohini Hojnosti, Devī Mahā Lakṣmī. The following dance is in Tāla Ādi and Rāga Mālikā. This śloka is in Sanskrit from the Ambā Pañcaratnam by Ādi Śaṅkara. He describes the protective and also the destructive aspects of the divine power in the whole universe, energy, Śakti, Devī, the goddess. Fighting Durgā, Bojovnice Durgā, Winner, Vítězka, and Śiva’s wife. She lives in Ambāpur and is the mother of the elephant-headed god Gaṇeśa. She is the embodiment of beauty, all-embracing, selfless, divine love. Okay, one more, okay? The final dance, the poslední tanec, is called “Lakṣmī Barambar.” This dance is about the goddess of wealth and happiness, Lakṣmī. People sometimes think that riches could destroy one’s character. This can happen only when māyā, attachment, takes over. Māyā brings wild greed, envy, jealousy, and destruction. Lakṣmī, on the other hand, brings wisdom, fulfillment, and prosperity on all levels. It means great material wealth, inner satisfaction, happiness, and harmony in relationships. Goddess Lakṣmī, Bhojan Lakṣmī, please come to us, please come to us. She is Viṣṇu’s wife; she emits a holy aura. Please come to us.

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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