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Suffering makes us strong

The divine descends into suffering to bear the pain of the world. In the difficult age of Kali, all beings endure hardship. Even divine incarnations like Kṛṣṇa and Jesus underwent profound suffering, demonstrating this universal condition. An old man's story illustrates how worldly success fades into loneliness and pain, revealing suffering's inevitability. Our physical bodies and possessions are temporary, but the inner soul remains. All beings, including sages and gods, experience suffering as they absorb the collective anguish. This shared experience ultimately dissolves into the divine.

"All ṛṣis, sādhus, gurus, and God—all were suffering. They are taking from others our heart, our pain."

"Better is that we quickly die than hurry home. That is why maybe it is good."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

We know of many things; perhaps some know, but 99% know. Many others have been sent, like God. But I will tell you about two. When Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa has to come—when God comes—He takes everyone into His heart. This happens, but it is not so easy. Just as we are sitting here, many of us have many troubles. It means the whole world now, all humans, are mostly suffering. This is in Kali Yuga; what is happening is very hard. But it will come, the Krishna Kali Yuga. His name is Kali, and in the Kali Yuga, He will come. Or perhaps He is already there, but still, He is doing everything. He lets them suffer, those who are like rākṣasas. This is from the father of Kṛṣṇa, who also was suffering, as written in every book. It is said that His sister suffered very much, and her husband also. They were in prison, and you know how it happened, how many children were born and how He killed them. So in certain things, then, after yugas, God comes like that, and they also suffer. When they come on this earth, maybe we don’t say that they are suffering, but perhaps they are showing us. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa suffered a lot. But then He came, and you know all about Him, how He came and also how He was suffering. He was fighting a lot. The Pāṇḍavas won, and after that also, but Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa came with Sudarśana. Similarly, you know more than me how Jesus was suffering. Yes, he had to go. He was hidden there, but he also had some disciples. Sometimes Jesus said, "My God, why did you give me this? I cannot do it." But he said, "There is nobody, only you are like that." You know how hard that was? In that time, there was no one who could help him; all went away. But then he again came, and we know all about this. In some way, as humans, we are also suffering. And some don’t suffer; they think, "I am strong, I am this, I am money, I am power." But finally, they will be suffering. It is said: when we have a water pot, and there is one by one drop of water falling in, we know it is a very fine drop, but it’s going. And so, one by one, slowly, slowly, after how many days or nights, finally that pot is full. Then water flows out. Similarly, we all, all ṛṣis, sādhus, gurus, and God—all were suffering. Why are they suffering? They are taking from others our heart, our pain. All this, God is taking in His hands, and suddenly it comes. Yes, Kṛṣṇa came, but again it is said, "Please don’t let him here." And so, Kṛṣṇa’s father, at midnight, and all the guards, they lay down sleeping. And from the prison, all the doors opened. And Kṛṣṇa’s father then took the other side of the river, and then he came back. So, you know that everything. So we remember this. Every year once we have this worship. Like also for Kṛṣṇa or Jesus, we have on that day we are also worshiping. So on that day, not only that, on that day we are happy and nice. In very hard times, or from the mother’s womb, mother’s afterbirth, or how children will be and how he will go. Those who are whole, suffering will be very strong. That means they are coming very solid, strong. We see that our body is very weak, we don’t have money, we don’t have shoes, like this. But inside, that ātmā knows, "I am for you, don’t worry." And when you think, "We are always good, and I have everything," okay, but one day it will be suffering. And when we think that everything works well for us and we are strong and everything is okay, but one day it changes. Once someone told me, we were in seminars in Austria, and there were about 50 people, 150 sometimes, and in one restaurant, a hotel restaurant. From time to time, we were going. So many times we were again in the seminar there. So once when I came, it was an old man. He was about 80 or 90. And it was a little cold day. This old man was living somewhere, not in his house. They brought him into that restaurant, and for one month he was there. I was sitting there, coming, going, and he’s sitting in the sun. One day, two days, three days, four days. And on the fifth day, I said to that elderly person, I said, "Sir, how are you?" And he looked at me very intently. I said, "How are you?" He said to me, "Please, young man, sit with me where I cannot go," when he said. So I took the chair and I sat beside him, opposite that way, and I said to him, "How are you, sir?" He said, "I will tell you. I am not happy. I am not good." "What happened? I tell you, my dear, I was born in a very good house. I studied very much until university, and there was a big company where there were about 5,000 people, and I was the head. And I was so happy there. I had two, three, or four cars. And also the drivers. Many things he was like. He said, "I’m like a king of the king." I said, "Oh, very nice." He said, "My dear young, you are a young man, wait, let me say." So I was listening. He said, "Every day people were calling me for somewhere to eat, or their house, or something very nice." Every day, good dress, good shoes, two guards, everything. And I had a little aeroplane. Then he retired, and slowly, slowly, all his cars and he are gone. Only one car. As long as he was still good, healthy, sometimes for Christmas or something, they were inviting him. He had one daughter only; she lives now in Germany, and then slowly, slowly he became very old. So they took him from the house, in his house, somewhere where the old people’s. And people were going, he was bringing tea, then a little breakfast and something. And my daughter is now in Germany, and she comes maybe twice a year. And all his friends, and all, nobody speaks with him about anything. All his cars are gone, houses are gone, nothing. I am sitting here, my dear, nearly four days you were going, and I was looking at you a little bit. But today, thank you. You told me something, and I feel my pain. The pain of my sleep. I can’t sleep. I have not proper eating. That I don’t have any good food. So it’s suffering. So maybe now he has done good things, he will be okay. And I was sitting with him, and every day when I was going here and there, he said, "I’ll have a coffee with us." And I brought him the coffee. And he said, "You are a great person for me." Of course, he passed away. Similarly, we don’t know how it will be for us also. Animals, they are suffering, but they die. But humans are suffering; we are lying in the bed, how many years? Better is that we quickly die than hurry home. That is why maybe it is good. So, no one is no one’s; nothing is ours. O man, even my body is not me. I am only one, my ātmā, soul, and I don’t know where I will go. We are always suffering, and we don’t want to die. Because we are living, I said, we will be living. "Yes, my boy," he said, "young boy. All we said like this." But after, we don’t know what will happen. Where are we? May this ātmā, the soul, it will split it. When we have the power, there is something we have, yeah, yeah... Bubbles, yeah, very nice, and it’s gone. So maybe our soul, our heart, was gone. Hurry up, all is Brahman. Others will suffer, coming again and again. So when the God who comes, they are also maybe not suffering, but they are dreaming and they are doing something, not to say to us how difficult it is. If I can, I can die. But I don’t want to die because of others. So, everything is not so easy for everyone. Many sādhus, munīs, it’s not that just I’m sitting here now and everything is for me. I would say how I lived, yes, when I was about four or five years only, that I don’t want to tell you anything. So, but it happened, a good... I came further and further. One seed slowly, slowly growing and growing and growing, and nice and nice, and flowers and fruits and everything. So God itself is coming like this also. After some time, they come, and then again they disappear. So maybe you are many artists like this; all are you, gurus. But there are people with small smiles who say yes. But it is said: "Mukh me lāḍū, and here, no." That’s it. We are talking in mouth, very nice. But we have a bit of a knife. That’s it. How are you all? One is suffering. One is not suffering. One is going there. Husband goes away, wife is there. Wife gone away, husband is suffering. Children are suffering. This all is nothing, yes, and you are attached. So attached is being attached is not good. You know, there is some time we have something in the left hand, we take off the other hand, it’s here. So when we feel inside, "I feel wrong, I die, I’m unhappy," that cannot be. One day, when we will go into the fire or into the earth, we will come there and say, "He was good." And we put the earth on it. So, but anyway, you can do it in the earth or on the fire, or in the water, rivers, or something like this. Like this. So one saint said, "Better is to die in the forest somewhere, very far, some forest." At least the animals can also take something from me and eat. So it’s like this. So all have suffered. And maybe Kali Yuga is already here. Kali is also here, and they said he will come with the horse. How? When will it be so, like this? But you know, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, he could make many lives, yes. He had four hands, everything, and he is there, Bhagavān. So today... We are doing that, which is today’s birth, but because you are tomorrow going, day after tomorrow, or something. So we are already worshiping here now. We know that he is already coming. So my dears, Kṛṣṇa is the greatest of the greatest. But his mother is suffering so much. You cannot imagine. You know that his mother got the baby. And his brother came and took her child and threw it against the wall. And what is with Jesus? And he had to take up, and when we see Jesus like this, we are completely gone. Yes. So it is at least that we don’t want to show him like this suffering. We took him and her mother from Jesus. She took him, and in his love, you know that he was in India. And there’s written in two places, and near Kashmir, in Śrī Nagar, yes, I said Kashmir. I don’t know that you should go and tell me I will come there. Yeah, then sit down. So, but there are some times people made it because they did want that in the Hindus, and their religion is this. And in that religion, Jesus was there, and they don’t want that Jesus was there, and that’s why they cut it out. But someone has written a very nice book in Germany and many countries, but he has written who this book is that. Do you know him? Do you know that? Who doesn’t know? Don’t know? This is a book that he was in India. Okay, I will bring you into the cafeteria. Yes, big cafeteria, this. Yes, you will, you will see.

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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