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Part 1: The Glory of Satsaṅg and the Path Beyond Borders We are again in Umag, and this year is special because it marks the 25th anniversary of His Holiness coming to Croatia. Twenty-five years ago, at the first seminar, there were about fifty people. This year we need this special tent so we can all fit in. Swāmījī said there is enough room that at last we can all practice āsanas. Yet I hope that next year even this space will be too small. I would also like to say welcome. None of us is a guest here; we are all here as a big family. Once again, we are very happy and pleased that we can visit Swāmījī in Croatia twice a year. I would just like to pass the word to Swāmījī and, as a sign of welcome, offer a flower to you. Our adoration to Oṃ Śrī Alakhpurījī, Siddha Pīṭha. Blessings to all of you from Gurudeva. Good evening and welcome, all brothers and sisters. Finally, we are again here in this beautiful countryside, the country republic of Croatia, and the most beautiful coast, the Adriatic coast. When I told people we would come to Umag, everyone was very happy. This place has some attraction or spiritual radiance. Though for some people it is very far; it costs them more money for traveling than just to pay for the seminar. Holy Gurujī used to say, where there is love, there is no distance. And when there is no love, even a neighbor’s door is too far. Where there is love, there is unity. Where there is love, there is understanding. And where there is love, there is peace. Love has no boundaries or borders. Borders are created out of ignorance. Borders exist only in the human brain. It is humans who create borders on this planet—from country to country, district to district, village to village, individual properties, and in some places even every centimeter is very expensive. But for those who have a divine consciousness, there is no border. Yet the aim of human life is to cross the borders of karmic law, the borders of death and birth, to come to mokṣa, self-realization. There was a question in Bosnia: “What does Satyaloka look like?” And Mahāprabhujī, Gurujī—spontaneously all answers I give are coming from Gurudev—so it is said, this is Satya Yuga. This satsaṅg is Satya Yuga. Now we are sitting in Satya Yuga. When we go out of this area, we will enter into the Kali Yuga. Satya Yuga or Kali Yuga, all is here. Heaven or hell is here. It is “devon ko bhī durlabhe manuṣe kā jīvan.” Even for the gods, it is very rare to realize a human body. It is called human, then called the saints, then called the devas, and then called the centralized or God. We are humans. We have our human qualities. We go through certain mistakes. But some of you are here like a saint. Saint means not a special dress. The uniform of the saint is wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge is that where there is no ignorance. Where there is no knowledge, there are doubts, jealousy, hate, complexes, selfishness, greediness, desires, longing, and unhappiness. And where there is knowledge, all this does not exist. That is known as a holy saint, and that one is not far from self-realization. Devas, we call gods. Some people translate in English as “semi-god.” There is no demi-god. God is God. You cannot say little love, half love, big love. Love is love. Fire is fire. Maybe a big mountain is burning, or a small matchstick. Fire is fire. God is God. There is no semi-God, so we call them Devas. God is. So if you read some books and there is written “semi-God,” then make a correction and write a letter to the author. For the next publication, please correct it. Many people translate the soul as the ātmā. That is also wrong. The soul is individual, and ātmā is universal. The soul is a victim of destinies, and the ātmā is free from the destinies. But to know this, you have to study inside. One who has no experiences about this and writes—that is called a bookworm; he goes to the library and collects the things. Therefore, in Yama and Niyama, in Rāja Yoga, it is said Svādhyāya. Svādhyāya means study. But this Svādhyāya, in reality, if you translate word by word, the definition is different. Sva means the self. Adhyāya means the chapter. So, study your inner chapter. The chapter of your life. How many chapters did you close uncompleted? How many chapters did you begin and leave halfway? How many chapters began with pain and ended with happiness? How many chapters began with joy and happiness, and ended with suffering? And what was your role in that chapter? That is called Svādhyāya. Study your own inner life chapters. So, the soul is not the self. Soul is ātmā. Ātmā, so we promote ātmā. The Ātmā is the supreme, the highest one. Now, the Devas. Devas are they who did very good work. They were spiritual and praying, but had no master’s or Gurudev’s guidance. Or still they did not get self-realization; they did not realize mokṣa. Such is the soul which is still not having mokṣa or ātmā jñāna. That comes to the Svargaloka, heaven, where in heaven there is everything beautiful. There is no illness, there is no age limit, all look very young, there are no dualities—beautiful. But when the karmas will finish—your spiritual karma, your spiritual work, it also has limitations—and as a credit of your spirituality, you got heaven. But when that will be finished, then you have to come back to Mṛtyu Loka. So the devas in heaven, praying to God, said, “After this period of heavenly life, if I have to be born again on this Mṛtyu Loka, Lord, bless me with human life.” So that through my spiritual work and Guru Bhakti, I may realize Mokṣa, Self-realization, know thyself. And where do we learn this? In Satsaṅg. There are thousands of occasions and opportunities where we can go to the wrong path, many possibilities of distractions. But rare are those where you can have the ātmā jñāna. Satsaṅg, satsaṅg with ātmā jñānī, Brahmīniṣṭhra, Śrotriya, Satguru Dev Brahmīniṣṭhra, the knower of Brahman and Śrotriya, who can inspire us and guide us. Therefore, one great saint said: “Lord, if I am born again in this world, it does not matter to which form of life you will send me. Even if I have to become a dog, please, let me be the dog at the door of my master.” Santonkī Dvārā, Santonkī Āśram, let me live in that āśram, where I will have Mahāprasād, where I will have darśan, and so on. “Śaṭ sudhare, śaṭ saṅgapahī.” Even an ignorant person can become a great wise person. Through satsaṅg, Mahāprabhujī said, “Sobhāvo Sattā.” This bhajan is composed by Mahāprabhujī himself. Mahāprabhujī is saying, “Śobhā o satsaṅgī,” what a glory of the satsaṅg! Satsaṅg means where truth is spoken. Where is spoken about spirituality? Where is spoken about brotherhood? Where is spoken about understanding, about service, and compassion towards every creature, and belief that there is God? These are the Guruvākyas, and we do believe, we believe in this because that is the truth. So Mahāprabhujī himself, he said, what a glory of the satsaṅg. But Bhagavān pays, only the fortunate ones can come to the satsaṅg. “Kya takat he jīv kī, Rām nām le, karam de thāp kī muh par de.” This jīvātmā has no strength to repeat the name of God. Spirituality is a very rich food, rich nourishment. It is not a job for everyone to digest. Therefore, this jīvātmā has no strength, because the karma is different. When you would like to go for spirituality, your bad karmas give a slap on your cheek and turn your face to the other direction of kusaṅga. How? Which kind of slap does it give? Negative thinking, desires, many, many things. So, fortunate ones are they who can come to satsaṅg. “Jai se kitne braṅśaṅg hokar śabda guñjar sunāye.” There is one worm, a special one, that a wasp catches. And she closes it in a mud house. She makes a little house, or like a nest. And she always gives injections, she sticks it to the worm. It transports the hormones in it and flies away. Then again, it comes and moves around that house, making sound, several times. Then, one day or one time, the wasp comes back silently. And what happens? That worm in this mud house is so scared. Now the wasp will become stuck. The wasp will come and stick again. So that, concentrating on the voice, the sound of the wasp—then that sound of the wasp is already in the subconsciousness of that worm. And he begins to imitate the sound of the wasp. And one day, it itself begins to… And that in yoga we call one prāṇāyāma. Do you know what the name of that prāṇāyāma is? It is Bhramarī prāṇāyāma. You plug your ears, you inhale; this prāṇāyāma belongs to the Nāḍī Yoga. Nāḍī Rūpa Parabrahma, in the Vedas it is said the form of the Supreme One is the resonance. Everything is created by sound. The world is sound. Everything. You are nothing but a bunch of sounds. You are completely transparent, and it is only a bunch of sounds brought together through different elements, so that is like a mantra. When you practice “OM SHO HAM,” I am that. AHAM BRAHMĀSMĪ. Concentrating, “AHAM BRAHMĀSMĪ, AHAM BRAHMĀSMĪ,” then one day you become, the number of that, you become BRAHMĀSMĪ. But Mahāprabhujī said, “Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavānakī. Gurudeva bina kāraj na sare,” without Gurudeva you cannot be successful in this. “Koti upāya kare koī cāhe,” you can do a thousand things. “Na bhavasindhu tere,” but you cannot cross this ocean of ignorance. So, when the wasp comes near the mud house and listens, the inside is already now that is awakened; her hormone is transferred into the worm. After a few days, she breaks that, or makes the hole bigger, and then sits there and makes a sound again. And then the other one begins to come outside, looking. And then this wasp flies away, and another one follows that one. So from this, Mahāprabhujī made one nice sentence of bhajan. Like that worm comes to the wasps and listens to the sound, nāda. Like that worm comes to the axis and listens to the sound, listens to the hope. Vairāgya. That is vairāgya. And so, that one, that baby which is developing inside, when he listens to this sound, then has a vairāgya, a feeling inside to follow. Like Bhakta said, “Gurudev, I will go with you to Brahmaloka.” You know this bhajan too. I don’t care what people think or who will think what. Next, “nichā pānī ai mile bhagīrathī ke mai.” The canalizations, water from the canalization, comes and enters into the Ganges. As soon as it merges into the Ganges, “ālī chīm ujje u gaṅgū,” it becomes pure. It becomes holy water, Gaṅgā Jal Kehalāī. Then no one will say it is canalization water. Everyone will say, only that water will become Gaṅgā, which will enter into the Gaṅgā. So only that will become holy or guru, who will enter into the consciousness of the guru. You have to merge it into it. And you will lose your ego, your jīvātmā will be lost, your identity will be lost. When the river merges into the ocean, that is the end of the name of that river. Hari Om. There is only ocean. Part 2: The Path to Brahman: Satsaṅg, Karma, and Liberation Similarly, when this Jīvātmā enters into the higher consciousness, then you will be known as Brahman. Just as when low water meets the Bhagirathi, it immediately becomes pure and is called Gaṅgā Jal: nīcā pānī āyī milevo bhāgīrathī kemai, milat pavitra hotā hai vo gaṅgā jal kahalāī. Or again: jaisī nīcā pānī āyī milevo bhāgīrathī kemai... Deep Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Jai! Jai Se Lohā, Aṅga Se Aṅga Melā. Jai Se Lohā, Pārasa Saṅga Lohā Melā, Pārasa Saṅga Lohā Melā. Pāras is a stone of very high quality and extremely rare—even rarer than a diamond or anything. Its nature is such that if it touches iron or any other metal, that metal becomes gold. So Mahāprabhujī said, "Pāras saṅga lohā kare"—when iron comes into the satsaṅg of the Pāras, near to the Pāras, touching body to body, aṅga se aṅga milāi, merging together, should the iron become pure gold? But it is said that Pāras can make you only gold, not Pāras. However, the Guru can make you the Guru. Gaṅgā can make you Gaṅgā. But you have to merge into it and give up your ego, your desires—all this. There is a best quality of sandalwood called malyagra. It has a very beautiful fragrance. Any wood that comes near that Malayagiri adopts that quality and becomes like Malayagiri. Similarly, satsaṅg makes you holy. Mahāprabhujī said that through satsaṅg one will realize this divine quality, this divine concept. Fortunate are those who can come to satsaṅg. The devas who live in svarga, or what you call heaven, do not have a forever-lasting life. According to the time of the universe and the numbers of solar systems and planets, they all have their age. Our planet also has its age, its day, its month, and its years. Our one year is one day of the devas in svarga. So they enjoy a long age and a long time of pleasure. But again, at the end, you have to come again to Mṛtyuloka, to birth and death. So one does not pray to come to svargaloka; one prays to come to Brahmaloka, and that is Ātmajñāna. That Ātmajñāna comes through satsaṅg, śravaṇa, following the Guruvākya, which means all the holy scriptures, Vedas, and Brahmavākya. The Upanishads are Brahmavākya, the Gītā is Brahmavākya, the Bhagavad Gītā—all these holy books, the Bible too, when spoken by great incarnations, are Guruvākya. And if you fail the Guruvākya, then chukeko, chorāsī—if you fail, you go again into this 84-million-creature circle once more. So we are fortunate ones. We have a chance. God was very gracious that we got human life. This is the most expensive diamond, this is a Pāras—you can make much gold—and this is a Gaṅgā, which can make everyone Gaṅgā, and this is Gurudev inside: you can make everyone Gurudev, but first you have to awaken, to realize. Work, work, work—always upliftment of your consciousness. If you fall again and again to the lower cakras and desires, then you need not have a consultation. Be sure that you will go again into another life, perhaps of reptilians, or who knows where. So the decision is yours. Now it is in our hands. We must practice ourselves, trust ourselves, and search for the truth. What is the ultimate truth? In God’s kingdom, there is no God. God did not create any particular religion, and God has created one thing: all these creatures on this planet are all God’s children. Love them, take care of them, feed them, love them—don’t eat them. That’s it. So when we come to the Ānanda Loka, then you know that. When the devas, svargavāsī (the citizens of heaven), have enjoyed all the credits of their karmas and deeds, they again come to this cycle of birth and death. Therefore, it is said, if you owe anything to anyone, hurry up to pay it back. Suppose you borrow money from someone: 100,000 euros, or 2,000 euros, 5 euros, 1 euro, half a euro, one cent—do not forget to return it immediately, as soon as you can. Otherwise, this becomes a big obstacle for you. You may be spiritual, you may have good karmas, there is nothing wrong; now you have the right to take off. To where? Svargaloka or Brahmaloka? Okay, you go. You come to the border, pass through control, and they look in the computer: “No. No entry. You have a debt. Return back to Mṛtyuloka. Pay back your karmas. Then come.” So you have to return. There is a story that Chidānand told—a nice story. There was one Swāmījī in a village. People liked him very much. Wherever he used to go, many disciples would go with him. Swāmījī had a long beard—I have only a little, you know—he had a beard three times longer. One day they were passing through the supermarket, and there was a businessman, a salesman, who was a Muslim. He wanted to make a joke with this Swāmījī and his disciples. He said, “Swamiji, I have one question. Can you answer me?” He said, “Yes. What?” The man asked, “What is the difference between your beard and the tail of a donkey?” Swāmījī didn’t say anything; he just went. Disciples like Vivek Purī, Hanumān Purī, Vasiṣṭha Purī—bodybuilders—they breathed, “My God, we will show him the difference.” But the Master said, “No, let’s go.” Well, that man who asked the question felt very sorry after half an hour. “How stupid am I that I offended some holy person?” You see, even if you make a mistake, afterward you feel sorry in your heart; you feel guilt. About sixty years passed, and the last day of Swāmījī came. Now he was going to pass away, to go into Mahāsamādhi. You know, yogīs and vegetarians have a very good memory until the last second of their life. The brain of a vegetarian does not become like a calcium block, nor the joints, and many things. But we are not talking about eating. Swāmījī called a disciple: “Please go and call that man.” “Which man?” “You remember once we were going through the supermarket, and one man made a joke and asked me a question? At that time I didn’t answer him, but I owe him an answer. And now I am going to Mahāsamādhi. But that answer which I owe him—I have to come back to the earth to answer him. Again, I have to come back in this chorāsī. So call him.” Meanwhile, that man was so sorry he didn’t dare to come near that holy man. He said, “With which face should I go, and with which eyes can I look into his eyes?” He had been suffering for sixty years because he offended someone. Both sides. Swamiji said, “My son, how are you? You know, today is my last day here, and I owe you an answer.” The man said, “No, no, please. That was my stupidity.” Swamiji said, “Doesn’t matter. Even with stupidity, you throw a knife, and it will make a wound. My son, I want to tell you, there is a difference between my beard and a donkey’s tail.” And then he chanted “Oṃ” and went into Mahāsamādhi. Therefore, however many promises you made, do not change them. From whom you took something, do not have this black coat on you. These are black layers; they will not let you go. So to become free from all karmas means you don’t have any debts—material, emotional, physical, intellectual, and so on. It is not easy to come to Brahmaloka. Otherwise, every clever businessman would fill Brahmaloka. But for them, there is no access. Therefore, devas have to come in. And those who come to Self-Realization, to Brahmaloka, some part of their energy vibration—the good part of that energy and vibration—joins together and comes to this Mṛtyuloka as an incarnation. There are two kinds of incarnation: Nitya and Naimittika. Nitya means always, everyday incarnation; that is called holy saints. Naimittika means from time to time. Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad Gītā, “Arjuna, from time to time I incarnate or manifest on this earth through my yoga māyā.” That is another manifestation. So there are normal mortal beings, good humans or bad humans, holy saints, or those who went to svarga—devas, deva-svarūpa. We call someone a good man when he doesn’t shout at anyone, doesn’t steal anything, doesn’t take anything from anyone, and is helpful—such a man we call like a devatā, a deva-puruṣa. Don’t blame that person; that is a deva-svarūpa. So first, at least achieve this level. Therefore, it is very bad to cheat. It is better to be cheated, but don’t cheat. Get rid of all karma. Then it is said: Ab ham mast bhaye Rām ras pīke, Rām ras pīke, Moye lāge duniyā ke sab ras pīke, Moye lāge duniyā ke sab ras pīke, Ab ham mast bhaye Rām ras pīke. “Mast” means happy, without any worries—divine. Now I became so “mast.” Through what? Rām ras pīke—the juice of God’s name. Now all the juice of the world, all enjoyments, for me, are tasteless. But it is a hard nut. Yes, my Swāmījī, it’s good to listen, hard to realize. Please, just be happy with us. We do our best. But it’s not easy to be just. And therefore, I have a nice surprise for you. Do you want a surprise? Next weekend we have the Śrī Svāmī Madhavānanda World Peace Council, a World Peace Summit in Hungary—VEP, sambadhe. The subject is “Inner Peace, the Answer to World Conflict,” the message of Mahātma Gāndhījī and Holy Gurujī. Who doesn’t know the name of Mahātma Gāndhījī? Can you raise your hands? Who doesn’t know? Who has not read Mahātma Gāndhījī’s biography until now? Raise your hands, those who did not read. Oh, my God. Thank you. Would you like to read? Who doesn’t want to read? So, a good message before you come to the conference. Next weekend already, the surprise. Good, and this credit goes to our two or three sisters. Their names I don’t know, but you will know. And there is also a little bit written by Śrī Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṃsavāmī. This book just appeared, and you will be the first to have this copy. We have 400 copies, and I told the people, “Why did you bring only 400?” So, still, you are welcome to have it. You can buy for your centers and sell it there, and so on. On the 2nd of October, Gāndhījī’s anniversary—you know the United Nations has declared the 2nd of October the Day of Non-Violence worldwide, in honor of Mahātma Gāndhījī—and here our conference begins. And His Excellency the Ambassador of India to Croatia, Pradeep Singhjī, is officially going to inaugurate this book. Thank you. So those who want to get it, get it. Then you will see what it means to be. How hard work is—this nut is very solid; it’s not easy to crack this nut. You first have good, solid work. Thank you. And I’m very happy to welcome you, happy to see you. And you know, we do not have any business with peace. I or you, we don’t have a peace company. We are not manufacturing peace; you cannot manufacture, but you can develop. And that peace begins within you. You know, Mahāprabhujī said, “Make your resolution, saṅkalpa, with great confidence—success is yours. Nothing is impossible.” And on the good things, there are a lot of obstacles. On a thorny bush, finally, a beautiful rose flower comes. So we have to go through the thorns, but finally we’ll be there.