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Part 1: Guru Pūrṇimā Satsaṅg: Memories of Early Disciples Arohaṁ, dear Swāmīs, dear sisters, dear brothers. Welcome to the evening part of the Guru Pūrṇimā satsaṅg in Mahāprabhū Dīpa Āśram in Strelka. Dear friends, dear yoga friends, dear sādhīs, dear swāmīs, welcome to the afternoon part of the program. At the beginning, we have a great opportunity to share the experiences of the old students and hear how they came to Jōzef and Swāmījī. Viśwa Gurujī had the idea to start the evening program with the memories of the old disciples. It would be very nice if they could share some thoughts and memories from the old times when they started with yoga. Vishwagurujī also had an idea to give them a present. Hari Om to all. I’m not sure how I can condense this; I will try. I started with yoga from early childhood. I first met Vishwagurujī in 1975. At that time, I was practicing yoga, but I was missing spiritual leadership. I met a friend who told me that some yogī from India should come, and if I wanted, I should come to a certain place. I was definitely very happy to go there, but there was an issue: they didn’t want to allow me to enter because nobody knew me, and my friend was not there. At that time it was different; it was not so easy to get to a meeting with Swāmījī because it was not so safe. Finally, they allowed me to come, and it was beautiful because I didn’t receive darśan from just one yogī but from two, as Holī Gurujī was also present. I remember it was very strong. It was so strong that during the short period I was there, I knew it was not good to stare at them, but I couldn’t help myself. Suddenly, both looked at me. I was sure they knew everything about me. It wasn’t too pleasant, but immediately a very beautiful feeling came. This darśan, this meeting, influenced me very strongly. I immediately recognized the need to stop eating meat. First, I thought I would wait until I was 18, because at that time, if you refused to eat meat, you received two diagnoses: either you were ill, or you wanted to commit suicide. Then I became truly aware that I needed a personal, private God, and I chose a form which I was already praying to at the time. It was interesting that before I received the mantra, this inner picture disappeared. I felt this was correct and I should proceed further. I knew I should repeat the mantra every day. At that time we didn’t receive a mālā like today, so I used a small rope and made a mālā for myself. I chose a mantra I wanted to repeat, and later I received it from Viśvagurujī. This was a very important moment in my life. Without it, I don’t know how my life would have flowed. I was thinking about what will be after death, why we are here, what is the main reason. I wasn’t satisfied with the daily routine of going to work and back. I really felt this is not the main meaning of life; it didn’t give me a sense. Vishwa Gurujī and Yoga in Daily Life provided me with a full sense of life and answered all my questions. Thank you very much. Next, we invite Jana Kanan from Prague. Good evening. I will also tell it in a very short way. I came to yoga like a blind person to very precious jewelry. It was said in the afternoon that it is not that we were looking for a guru, but that the guru would find us by himself. That was probably how it was with me. I could come up with certain things that were necessary, but it was always with the love of Swāmījī, so that something would happen. I was searching for something, but I was not sure for what. In my case, it was truly not the disciple choosing his master, but the master looking for his disciples. When I met Swāmījī, I became like an organizer, helping in the organization, but always it was through the mercy of the master. I don’t know what more to tell. In the beginning, I thought everyone had the same approach to the Master, to Viśvagurujī, that everyone wished to do something, to organize something. Now, more and more, I realize we are all different. We all have our own line of thought, our own thinking and perception. It’s like in Mahāprabhujī’s garden: there are many flowers; if there was only one species, it wouldn’t be the same. After many years, about 15 years later, I realized it is not as I thought. Every one of us is different; our thoughts are different, our approach to Swāmījī is different. It is really like in Mahāprabhujī’s deep garden—it’s beautiful because there are so many different flowers. Each of us is a different flower because each is a different person, and this is how it should be. The biggest blessing I received was that Swāmījī found me in 1975. I’m really not sure what would have become of my life if I had not met him then. I would like to invite Amrit Puri from Bratislava to share her memories with deep appreciation. To be honest, I don’t know how to start and how to continue. Why did I come to yoga? Because of a very big pain. I didn’t like to live with this pain anymore. When I tried to find help with doctors, it was even worse after they tried to help me. Swāmījī removed this pain in one day. In one year, only 2% of the pain remained. This pain was so big that I was hardly able to overcome it. Since that time, I have known so many stories, lived so many stories, that I don’t know which to choose. In the early beginning, in the first years I met Swāmījī, he told me that I am a girl of luck, but still, pain is in my way. I was not able to imagine what was awaiting me when I didn’t have this big headache, which was removed. I don’t know what happened. I will not judge this, because Swāmījī definitely knows better than me what happened that time. But I know definitely yoga removed my pain. I was gifted with happiness in my life. It showed me the sense of life. As Swāmījī told me that I am a child of good luck, I couldn’t understand until this time, because I understood that something is protecting me. Děkuji. Now we will invite Hanuman from Levoča to say a few words. Praṇām Gurudev. Let me in this moment, on this day, thank you in the name of myself, my family, and all the disciples whom we were allowed to educate and bring to you. Thank you that you are like an umbrella over our lives. A very long time ago, in 1977, my good friends told me that a real yoga master had come to Kopna in the Czech Republic and that I should go there. We already knew what the Master means because we all read the Bhagavad Gītā. One evening, Swāmījī was giving a lecture about Rāja Yoga. At that time I was young, strong, and overconfident, and I told myself, "Yes, this is what I was searching for." I have never understood yoga more than that one day. When we were leaving the lecture room, I was trying to observe Swāmījī with one eye. And he did this gesture, watching Mahāprabhujī. It takes a year, many years, really a year. That guru is not limited, unless he is limited by his disciple. Thank you. I would like to invite Prem Lata from Prague, who, even though very young, has a very old spiritual story behind her. That’s true. I perhaps don’t look like that, hopefully. I am a very old-time disciple of Swāmījī, and I am very thankful for that. I am thankful to my mother, who went to a yoga seminar one day in the 70s. She came back home and said, "So from now on, we do yoga in our family, and we are all vegetarians." She cooked a few meals, and then my father said, "Yes, darling, as soon as you learn how to cook vegetarian food, I will be happily vegetarian." She was going to Swāmījī’s seminars, and Swāmījī, in those years, also had cooking lessons. So she really learned quickly how to cook vegetarian food. She continued visiting Swāmījī for seminars. Because my father dearly loved my mother, he accompanied her to yoga seminars, and like this, he also heard Swāmījī’s lectures. Once he listened to Swāmījī’s story about Sonāmukhī, you perhaps know this one, and then he said, "Well, I wasn’t considering being a yogī and having a yoga master, but when Swāmījī is such a special personality with such a sense of humor, I will become his disciple." If he agrees. Perhaps you know, he was a painter and film director. Perhaps you know Swāmījī’s portrait from Chatham Hall; it’s my father’s painting. So thanks to my parents, I came to Swāmījī as a very, very small girl. Since then, I’m with him, and I’m immensely grateful, because thanks to him, I am who I am. I also know the potential that is in me through yoga, through Swāmījī. Thanks to him, I am still with Swāmījī, and I want to thank him for who I am and for discovering the potential of who I can be. As Alan said, the guru is unlimited; only the disciples are limited. I feel like I’m getting some coat from Swāmījī that is a few sizes bigger than I am. My whole life, not just today, I feel like this. I’m struggling to grow into it. With Swāmījī’s help and mercy, I somehow manage, I hope. Thank you very much, Swāmījī, for having me as your disciple. To share the basic life story concerning yoga and Viśva Gurujī, here is Prime Prakash from Novi Ičin, Czech Republic, who will try to say in four minutes the most important things. I have been practicing yoga for 40 years already, but I met Swāmījī in 1990 because my yoga teacher told us we were not allowed to come to Kopna, so I was not aware that some master, some Swāmījī, existed. I started to practice yoga also because of health issues, and I would not be here with you all if there were not Swāmījī and the practice of yoga. I practice yoga each day, especially prāṇāyāma. The day before the seminar, I had a dream in the night that Viśvagurujī came to me and told me that I was all the time a very dear disciple to him, and that if all people desert me, he will still stay with me. He opened my Anāhata chakra, and with all the feelings coming through the Anāhata, I was living for two months, and still I am. Before the seminar, I took a mantra because our yoga teacher told us we could ask for a mantra, so this is how I got to Swāmījī. Next, we will hear from Sangītā from Hamburg. I think you all know my story already because it’s worldwide on Swāmījī TV, how I met Gurudev. It’s now 35 years. When I see you all and what I feel here, it is the master of the heart. When I look at you and feel the atmosphere, I feel that Swāmījī is the master of the heart. He put me in his heart, and he puts everybody in his heart. Even if you don’t feel it every day, he is a surgeon operating on the heart all the time. If we wish to improve our habits, our qualities, our behavior, he will make us like him if we want. That is what yoga is for me. It is the oneness which is realized here, and for that I am very, very thankful. We have here on the stage Prem Prakash from Blanska, who will share his story. I came to yoga in 1979. Until that time, I was not aware of yoga at all. I was in the hospital under surgery, and they put me in a room with one doctor. He was visited by another doctor, and they started to talk about yoga. I was living in Blansko, but originally I am from Brno, so I told myself, "OK, I will find yoga in Brno." It’s beautiful that I finally found yoga because yoga found me. I became a very dear and close friend of the yoga teacher. Then in November, she announced to me that the Guru would come to Brno, to Sonia Sladkova, and said, "I would like to show you this yoga master, but you cannot enter. I will try to open the door a little bit so you can see him." So I came there. My friends came to Sonia, and they were talking about something. Then Sonia came to me and told me, "Come inside, because Swāmījī said, ‘Let the lady from outside come to me.’" So I entered inside, and I am there for all the time now. I would like to introduce you to Sita from Brno. Hari Om. Praṇām Swāmījī. I belong to the group where I will be 38 this year. I am a student of Swāmījī, and I am very grateful that he has been with me for so long. This year I will celebrate 38 years as a disciple of Swāmījī. As a child, I was very good, but then when I became a wife and mother, I would like to delete this period of my life. All my life was broken at that time. I would like to thank someone very close to me, my yoga teacher. Many of you knew her very well; her name is Samādhi Sonia Sladkova. I would like to thank many others who helped me in my beginning in yoga. I would also like to thank my husband, who is not here with us anymore, Om Prakash. I got a mantra, and I wrote that I don’t want to ask for a mantra, but I want to be a student of Swāmījī. I took it as a big commitment, that I would have to work a lot on myself. To become a disciple was, for me, very important, so that it would be a part of my life. After one and a half years, I also received my personal Kriyā, and then my life started as a plan of Viśva Gurujī. I would like to thank Viśwa Gurujī one more time, and I hope very much that he will be with me even on my departure. Now we invite Sita from Blansko to speak about her life story. I also came to yoga like a blind person. My colleague came to me and said, "I have signed you up for yoga." I did not even see what it was. When I was young, about 15–16 years old, I remember I once bought yoga pictures, āsanas. I do not know why I bought them. My friends told me, "Why did you spend so much money?" because it was expensive. I was practicing yoga for half a year when our yoga instructor told us that Swāmījī would arrive to Jedovice and there would be a seminar. I was not really too much into yoga; I was not aware what yoga is. But I can tell you, when I first saw Swāmījī, it was really very strong. Since that time, I have really been trying to follow him. I received my mantra in 1990. Thank you all. I would like to invite Yamuna from Croatia. Praṇām Gurudev. Praṇām. Dear friends, dear family. Yes, I’m Yamuna from Croatia, but somehow life brought me to Germany, and now I’m living in Austria. My story would be this: as a little girl, I always wanted to know why something happens. You know, when one brick or tile falls down on someone’s head, why does it happen? Why just to this person? I wanted to know the meaning of life and why we are here. I had a feeling that yogīs know the answer to this question. In my young age, I heard once there is one yoga in Zagreb, and I immediately went there. There was one young man who was practicing yoga, and I think also karate or something like this. This group also included, at that time, a very young Vivek Purī and Vlado Vāśiṣṇa. There was also a young Mahāmaṇḍala Svarviveka Purī. We heard once there is one real yogī who will come to Belgrade, and we decided to go there. It was ’84, and when I saw Gurudev, I had a feeling I am in the center. I don’t need to go anywhere. Later, we started, and we made a foundation for Croatian yoga in Zagreb. We organized a lot of seminars, and I learned very, very much from Gurudev through his lectures, through satsaṅgs. I was observing Gurudev. I saw his love, his wisdom for all of us. Later, when I became a mother, I saw what it means to be a mother, and it is not easy, but through love for your children, you learn to be wise. So I started to feel Gurudev more, because I see how much love he has for us and patience. I had very nice spiritual experiences with our Gurudev. For me, Gurudev is not only this body, but this principle of Guru. He is living; he is this principle. One thing, maybe one more, what I wanted to say to people, because of relations, what we were talking... I was thinking, why, when you want to marry, they ask you, "Do you want this person?" Later, I was thinking about this, and I saw, you know, when you like somebody, feelings are coming and going. One day you want something, one day you don’t want something. If you bring some decision from your body, this will go away. If you bring a decision from your emotion, it will go away. But what is important is that you bring a real decision: "Yes, I want to be with someone." This decision is not only that you say once, "Yes, I want to be," but every day. Then it means we are your disciples every day, every moment. We are ready to work on ourselves, because Gurudev shows us the way to come to our inner Guru. So much from me. I wish you all the best. Now I would like to welcome Man Sukram. He got a task from Swāmījī not to speak only about himself but also to say a few words generally for all of us. Praṇām Guru Dev. Hari Om, dear brothers and sisters of Yoga in Daily Life. I’m very, very thankful to be here. I’m especially thankful to Gurū Dev that he gave us the opportunity to send the invitation to all yoga centers to celebrate Gurū Pūrṇimā. I’m especially thankful, of course, to the Strelka Āśram organizers, who give us shelter, food, and such a nice surrounding here. About the fellowship and the social activities we have in India, I will speak maybe in one month when we have the General Assembly. But of course, it’s connected with my life from my early childhood, that I’m here today. Before I come to my childhood, which I secretly told nobody till now—if not Guru Dev, I will start in the year 1986, when Guru Dev sent Swami Advaita Nand to Hamburg to teach yoga. You know him? He is from the Czech Republic, still living in Hamburg, teaching yoga. One boy at university told me, "They will come, one Swāmī, please come and join our group to practice yoga." This boy was Mokṣāṇand; some of you know him, I believe. We started to practice yoga, and in this early yoga group were also Rukmani and Gajanand. A few months later, we got an invitation from Guru Dev through Advaita Nand that we shall join the next spiritual journey to India. We were all very surprised because we didn’t see Swāmījī, only in pictures. The first time we met Guru Dev was at the Frankfurt airport in March 1987. We went to Delhi and to Jaipur. There we first met Horī Gurujī. I remember very well this time because Horī Gurujī was very often singing bhajans, and one of these bhajans, which we sang two or three times a day, was "Gurudeva Dara Śaraṇa Dhānī." After a few days, we went to Nepal, stayed there a few nights, and after Nepal, we went to some place called Potlan, because at this time, Swāmījī was already looking for a big area, a place where he could build his vision. At this time, I didn’t know so much about Om Āśram and all this, what was going on in Guru Dev’s mind and plans. But the people were very kind, and they made a very, very large town of tents for us. One night, late in the evening, I think it was shortly before midnight, Guru Dev called Rukmani, Gajananda, and me to him. He chose to take us as disciples, so he gave us mantra initiation. So our life in Yoga in Daily Life started. Gajanand and Rukmani became swamis. I chose to be a family man. My wife already spoke here just before me. Swāmījī gave us the names for our sons before they even were born. He invited us to Kailash āśram for haircutting. Children become old and big. They now already, by themselves, have children, so we are grandparents already. It’s quite a normal life we lived, but always under the protection of Gurū Dev. Now I will tell maybe two episodes from my early childhood, which only a few people know. These episodes I already had forgotten, but through the technique of self-inquiry, meditation, some memories come back from early life. First was when I was between the ages of 12 and 14. My favorite dress was orange. I had a few orange dresses, and I wore this to school and during the daytime because I felt so pleasant in this orange dress. I cannot tell you. The first remembering which comes to me is our connection with Guru Dev and yoga. This was when I was eight or nine years old. I had been in a hospital for some surgery, and in the afternoon, the nurses made a play group or a handwork group with the children. One day we got a chance to make a little puppet. I chose, of course, orange color from wool, and the head was from wood, a nice brown color like Gurudev’s skin. After I finished this little puppet, one nurse told, "Oh, it looks like a yogī." I didn’t even know what a yogī was. I took it home, and it stayed in my room for many, many years. I believe 10 or 15 years ago, I found it again in some hidden place. So still I have this piece of remembering, which I take in my hand with this orange color, and this was, of course, Gurudev, but I didn’t know it at this time. Here I will stop because other people are also waiting. Thank you very much for listening. Enjoy your time with Guru Dev and practice your sādhanā. Thank you. Hari Om. Part 2: Memories at the Master's Feet I would like to ask our Swāmīs and Sādhvīs to share a few memories from their lives. If there is anybody who has been with Swāmījī for more than 35 years, which I believe you are, then please. Praṇām Guru Dev, Hari Om dear brothers and sisters. Hari Om, dear brothers and sisters. As you heard from Mansukram, you know a little about me and my start with yoga and daily life. When I was young, I had a wish: I want to see God. I wanted God to give me a sign that He is there. I went to church sometimes, but I didn’t find it there. Then I went to India, and it was not so easy for me. The first Indian journey was a little hard, very hard—ťažká. The circumstances, the dust, the heat, the food, the spice—all those circumstances were difficult. It was not easy. The first time I saw Viśvagurujī was at the airport in Frankfurt. I saw the back of him, only this orange dress and the dark hair. I thought, oh, like Jesus, but only in an orange dress. Then we started the journey in India. Holy Gurujī was the whole time with Swāmījī and the people on this journey. It was such a big presence, but I didn’t recognize it at the time. It was indescribable, but I remember it years later, not then. And Swāmījī was very lovely and nice to me on my first Indian journey because he knew that I had a little trouble inside to stay. It was very nice when I received my mantra. It was at night, and I was searching for that—to have a connection to God every day through my mantra. I can say that I am very thankful to Viśvagurujī that he gave me the opportunity to practice the system of yoga in daily life and to give it further to other people. I think that’s all. Now we would like to invite to the stage Ekta from Vienna. Praṇām Swāmījī, praṇām dear friends, brothers and sisters. In my life, the first time I remember, when I was five years old, I came in contact with yoga. My father was talking about this, and I was very much impressed. Then my life went on. I am a Catholic. When I was a young girl in school, I went to the church, and I was always expecting something special when the priest was preaching. This was from about 7 years old until 14. My parents always asked me, "Why do you go to church? Don’t you want to sleep on Sunday?" They didn’t know why I went, but I went. I never got what I sought, and I didn’t know what I was expecting. I always thought, "I have to practice," but I didn’t know what. So I did some physical training, and I was also always praying. When I heard a prayer, I learned it by heart and repeated it. So was my childhood. When I was about 14 or 15, I said, "I have now had enough of this." I had so many prayers, and I didn’t want to pray anymore. I wanted a normal life. Then there was existentialism when I was 17, 18; this was more attractive to me, a very strong direction of existentialism. Then, in 1973, I came in contact with a way of eating—to eat only rice and salt and sesame. Maybe you know this kind of eating. When I was older, I was interested in macrobiotics. I had a friend who changed very much in a positive way when he was eating this way, and he told me about it. I also tried. For ten years I ate only rice and gomasio, and I recognized how it changed me. I was never so happy with the food which was, you know it very well, like Czech food. We also cook in this way, but I didn’t like it so much. This was very important for me to recognize how it changed my mind and my body, especially the mind. Then there was a time I wanted to go to America, but I got no visa. This was very strange. Then I married and had two children. When the children were six and eight, I was talking with a friend, and we said, "All our life we wanted to do yoga." Always, when I heard this word 'yoga', there was something in my mind. It was like a ring, but I didn’t know where to go, and I had no confidence. I thought I must have a person in whom I have confidence. In 1986, it was the Christmas Satsaṅg. I went with my husband to Swāmījī’s satsaṅg. A friend brought me to Swāmījī, but that’s not so important. The first time, I had this feeling—what I was searching for all the time when I was young and went to church. But it was not the words. It was my mind. My mind was so open, so clear, and I could hear every word, but Swāmījī was talking about a taxi driver in America or something like this. It was nothing special, but I recognized, "Now I am here. I have been searching my whole life." It was crystal clear. I knew that I had found what I was looking for as a child in the church, because Swāmījī talked about completely ordinary things. He talked about taxis in America, but it was in the atmosphere that I found there. It was a beautiful life, it is a beautiful life still with Swāmījī, and I have had so much experience in every way. I was a mother, I had children, and at the same time Swāmījī made me into a baby, and again he educated me from a baby to—I don’t know if I’m an adult now, but somehow, maybe a little bit. So thank you very much. I wanted to say thank you to Swāmī Advaita, who was very important for me, and to Gayatrī, Yogānand, and so many people. Hemalatā, she will speak after me, and she is very important for me and for yoga in daily life. Thank you. Many people I know very well, thank you very much. These were just the beginnings. I don’t want to talk about what happened next because other people are waiting. But I want to say that life with Swāmījī was beautiful and is still beautiful. What is important is that I have experienced a lot. I am a mother of two, but what happened was that Swāmījī made me a child again and started to raise me from childhood to now. I hope I am at least a little grown up now. I would like to thank you very much. I would also like to thank Advaita Nānandová, who is very important in my life, and also Hemlata, who will be speaking now. So Hemlata from Vienna was already introduced, which is beautiful. Please come and give us your condensed, very much condensed life and relation to Viśvagurujī. Praṇām Swāmījī, Hari Om, dear friends. Today, when Swāmījī said all who are 40 years and more should come, I started to count. It’s exactly 40 years now that I have been with Swāmījī. Before I came to Swāmījī, I had just finished my physiotherapy diploma and went to the Tyrol to work. I did not really search for anything. I was very satisfied with everything—with my work, my family. My wish was to live like my mother, to have at least four children. This was my expectation, and to work a little in my profession. Everything went completely different and very beautiful. It wasn’t always easy, not at all. But I know that for me, the most precious thing that can come to a human being happened: I met Swāmījī and I got a mantra. I know that I don’t know very much. I know almost nothing. I don’t know where I come from. I don’t know my future. But what I know for sure is that this was the most precious moment of my life. When I came back from my work in Tyrol to Vienna, I did not know why. I was just working for two years in Tyrol, in the west of Austria. After two years, I had the feeling that I had to leave and go back to Vienna. I know from many occasions in my life that I have to do something, but I don’t know why. I just know I have to do it. I had no idea what a swami is, or what a master is, or what a disciple is, or what yoga is. I told one of my friends when I came from Tyrol, "I would like to do something with gymnastics and music." She said, "Come, come to a real true yogi, come there and you will like it." I said, "I don’t know, okay." It was rather strange for me, the yoga center. At that time, when I first came to the ashram of Mahāprabhujī in Śikhanedra—it was the only center then—Katarina was there. I remember she said, "Just go in this room and meditate. Swāmījī is not here, but he will come." It was not my first time in this yoga ashram; it was the fifth time. I was again living at home with my parents because I was searching for a flat. Always my mother said, "Where are you going, and what is this Swāmī?" At that time, I described Swāmījī like this: If I were to put love in a figure, then I would take Swāmījī. I remember when I was again in the room, meditating a little, and then I heard Swāmījī’s voice in the entrance. When I heard his voice, I remember the light, or the love—how to describe? Perhaps the light was coming directly into my heart. This I remember, and then my connection with Swāmījī started. At that moment, I felt how the love penetrated into me. To make it short, the most important thing for me is that nothing, nothing will ever separate me from my beloved Master. That is the most important. Hari Om, thank you. Next, I would like to invite Amrit. I will make it very short because perhaps I’m too emotional to speak about this. I was very young when I met Swāmījī. I was a child, and he was coming in, and I remember everything. It’s more than 35 years ago, but I can remember every moment. I remember the prayer in the ashram. It was a new language, but I remember this "Jaya, Jaya, Jaya Gurudev," and it never went away since then. At that time, it was crazy not to meet Eid in school. The other pupils laughed at me, and also my sisters and my mother were very much with love and bhakti for Swāmījī, but my dad was somehow questioning, "What should this be?" and he was against it. You could think I had a chance to choose what I want, but I never had a chance because my heart was so much attracted to Swāmījī. It was clear for me that I have to go this way. Since that time, many things happened: beautiful things and hard things. But all the time, the prayer was guiding me. When my children were born, I made a prayer. When my parents died, I made a prayer. So what else should we do? My life is in his hands. Next, we would like to invite Gaṅgā from Jedovnice. Please tell us about your beginnings in yoga. Praṇām, dear brothers and sisters. My path to yoga was, I would say, a little strange. After lung surgery, I was ordered to go to a spa. There I met a nurse who told me that she practices yoga. At that time, I didn’t know Swāmījī. She lent me a book and said, "Read quickly, because I need it for yoga exercise." After dinner, I started to read the book, and I couldn’t let it go. At the beginning of the book, there were no pictures of āsanas. There was just theory about why to practice yoga. I held the book in my hands. I was trembling from head to toe. I read until morning, returned the book, and I knew that something changed in my life. Then, you know how it goes further? Situations which hit my life were puzzling, one after the other. Suddenly, I appeared in Blansko, and my yoga teacher told me, "Would you like to come with us? There will be a Swāmījī, our master." I was able to visit, in totality, the secret seminar. Then they asked me, "Do you want to become a disciple?" I told them yes, but I don’t know what it means. She told me it means you will visit the satsaṅgs, you will visit the seminars with Swāmījī, and you will stop eating meat. None of these conditions seemed possible for me. But as she told me that animals were suffering, I stopped eating meat immediately. In that moment, I stopped. When she took me to Gurudev, such energy in the room—it was so strong that I lost my breath. I didn’t know who I am. I didn’t know anything. Swāmījī asked me, "Why do you want a mantra?" I told him, "I see a lot of suffering in the world. I would like to help them." Swāmījī told me, "When you open the third eye, you can help them all." At that time I was just looking at Swāmījī, but now I can just smile about that. Life passed, and a few things happened. I received new life, and I was always coming to Swāmījī to thank him, and he was laughing, "New life indeed." One of the last times I received this new life from Swāmījī was in Canada in 2019. I was able to spend several days with him, and I can tell you one thing: so much love I received those days, I haven’t received through all my life. I also received a lot of knowledge. Then it happened in 2021 that I lost my husband. You know how you could feel when you live with one person for 58 years, that it is not easy to lose him. But I felt that Gurudev is holding me in his hand. I was capable of going through this hard period of my life thanks to Gurudev. I can say that, as a human, I understood who is our Gurudev. Until today, if I sit in the car or I’m solving something, I always think about our paramparā, and I tell myself, "My dearest paramparā, my dearest gurudev, be with me so I do everything correctly, that everything is fine," all the time. I feel this presence. I am all the time satisfied and thankful. I am deeply thankful that I could meet our Gurudev and our Paramparā. I would like to invite to the stage Ānandapūrṇā from Vienna. It was exactly 35 years ago when my very patient yoga teacher took me to the airport for the first time to meet someone, to pick someone up. She gave me flowers in my hands to give. I’m not sure if it was Viśvagurujī, but it was a very strong energy. It made me somehow very, very happy. After this, I forgot everything again. But I was sewing myself one orange overall. I looked like a Tibetan monk. I got a very good job where I could talk about protecting the environment. I told them I cannot speak because I have a lot of blockades here in the Viśuddhi Chakra. They said, "Don’t worry, you will get very good training." During this job, I could develop a little. Then again, I had very much fear and depression. I did some therapy, and my yoga teacher asked if I wanted to come to the summer seminar, as there is a yogī. I said, "I want to have something more there, not just like yoga, something better," because I didn’t know anything about yoga. She took me to the seminar in the summer of 1990. Gurudev gave me a mantra. He asked me two days before, "Are you a vegetarian?" I said, "No, I am not." Then he asked, "Will you be a vegetarian now?" I said, "Yes." We were invited to a place where there was a party. It was the first morning, so I got the mantra, and Viśvagurujī said, "That’s all," and we went to that party, of course vegetarian, in some very nice place on a hill. I didn’t want to see anything about this dinner or lunch. I disappeared into the forest, just to see when they were going again so I could come back. I was only with my mantra, and I was very happy with it. Then we came back to the seminar. I had also bought an orange car at that time, before I got my mantra. I was there in Rakhine with my car, and I was to go back. They asked if I could come to the ashram in Enenglstrasse if I wanted. I said yes. So I came to the ashram, and I was very happy with that. So, right from the seminar, I got to Vienna. We’ve got a Divya Purī from Croatia. Praṇām Swāmījī, Praṇām Hari Om. All dear brothers and sisters, I don’t know English. The first time in Rastovac, two or three years ago, Swāmījī said that I say something, and the first thing I said then was that I was afraid of it my whole life. Two or three years ago in Rastovac, in a restaurant in Croatia, Swāmījī asked me to say something for the first time, and this was the terrible thing I was afraid of. It was very hard for me. What is interesting after that is that two months before, going to bed, I thought, "What if I get up again? What will I say again?" That resulted in me remembering all the moments from the beginning of yoga, the first 10-20 years. Since then, I have been very afraid that Swāmījī would call me again to say something, and I remembered what happened in the last 20-30 years that I was with him. I met Swāmījī for the first time in Tuheljske Toplice in 1989. When Swāmījī entered the hall, Bādanand from my brother—wake up because you have a chance to pass. That Bādan sang in Croatian. That Bādan has so many beautiful lyrics. I understood it very personally, very significantly. Swāmījī entered the court after about 10 steps. When I looked at him, there was a feeling that I came home, that I no longer have to look for anything in life, and that this is it. Literally, I took it very personally. When I saw Swāmījī for the first time, I knew that I had found what I was looking for, and I’m there. The next evening, there was a group of seven or eight young boys and girls, and we wanted to sing something nice for him. We decided to invite him to our room after the evening satsaṅg. We didn’t think it was something we shouldn’t do. It seemed normal. The next day, seven or eight of us, very young people, young girls and boys, wanted to do something special for Swāmījī, so we decided to ask him to come to our room. We didn’t know that it was something that is not actually done. We went to call Swāmījī in his room. A friend of mine—I didn’t know English, I didn’t know what to ask. We knocked on the door. Swāmījī said, "Go ahead." We went inside, nodded. I just said, with the biggest smile on my face, "May I?" I didn’t know what to ask in English. Swāmījī could have said anything, but he added, "Come to your room." So the two of us came to knock at Swāmījī’s door, and we came inside. We fell on the floor, and I didn’t know what to say. I just said, "May I," and then Swāmījī finished, "Come to your room." Swāmījī said, "Yes." I said, "Yes, yes, yes." Swāmījī said, "Okay, go, I will be there in five minutes." We prepared the room. There were two beds connected, and one separate bed about half a meter from them. Swāmījī came after five minutes with two people. In the room, there were eight of us. As Swāmījī came, we had prepared the room. We put two beds together, and then Swāmījī came with two or three other people. Of course we all sat on the beds, and these two people didn’t have a place to sit, so they sat on the floor. We didn’t realize that it was not to be done. Swāmījī didn’t say anything. He behaved as if it was according to the highest standards. We sang to him with the guitar two songs, two bhaḍana. After that, Swāmījī sent one of these two people who came with him for the medallions of Gurujī and Mahāprabhujī. That lady left and brought seven small medallions. There were eight of us. Swāmījī didn’t say anything about it at all. He just sent those two people to bring the medallions of Mahāprabhujī, and so we all got the medallions. Okay, okay, okay. To Swāmījī. Oh, to Swāmījī. Okay. And very short, very short and sweet. Praṇām Gurudev, and praṇām guru brothers and sisters. I think we all have heard enough of all the beautiful stories. I’m just a baby, although I look very old, but I’m a baby among you all. Yesterday, Gurudev said I have power, so maybe today, on Guru Pūrṇimā Day, let us all, all of you, help me to sing "Namo Mukharata." All of you, can we just? Today is Guru Pūrṇimā, so please help us, and let us all sing "Namo Mukharata" together. "Namo Mukharata Prabhupāda Mukharata." Today is Guru Pūrṇimā. We have to recognize who is our Guru. Can we sing, "Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu"? This is our Guru. It is very auspicious that we recognize him. This is our guru. When Gurudev said, "I have power," I think with these two mantras, recognize who is our Gurudev, and everything that comes, comes from Gurudev. I have nothing. I’m an old lady. I have nothing at all. Everything that comes comes from Gurudev. As Swāmījī said yesterday, that I have certain abilities, these are the two mantras that allow us to understand, to acknowledge, and to respect our Master. I have no abilities that would be mine. Everything comes from our Master. We are all different, and we are all given different names. Gurudev is trying to fulfill us. We are trying to fulfill our name when Gurudev gives us our name. So that’s all I want to speak. That’s all we need to understand from here. The last thing is, I urge those who have no mantra—this is a very auspicious day. I hope that you will think of having this precious mantra, because for our liberation, we have the best Gurudev here. Today, I give my fruits of honor and everything that I have, and I suppose all of you too. On this special day, we will offer it to Gurudev. Thank you all. With this, we finish this chapter of the evening program. We had a lot of information, a lot of important and interesting stories. What is true, what was said, is that we are all different. What is important is that we all gathered at the right time, at the right moment, at the feet of our master. Thank you, dear Gurudev, that you lead us here.