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Part 1: The Weight of Pride: A Story of Surrender Kī Jai Devādvideva Viśvamahādeva, Kī Jai Śhādīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān, Kī Jai Hindradharam Samrāḍ Paramahaṁsvāmī Śrī Mādhavānand, Purūjī Satguru Dev Bhagavān, Kī Jai Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar Paramahaṁsvāmī Śrī Maheśvarānand, Purūjī Gurudeva, Kī Jaya Sadāśivasamārambham, Śaṅkarācārya Madhyamam, Asmadācārya Paryantam, Vande Guru Paramparām, Gurur Brahmā, Gurur Viṣṇu, Gurur Devo, Maheśvara, Gurur Sākṣāt, Parabrahma, Tasmai Śrī Gurve Namaḥ, Mannātha, Śrī Jagannātha, Madguru, Śrī Jagadguru, Māmatmā, Sarvabhūtātmā, Tasmai Śrī Gurve Namaḥ, Nahaṁ kartā, Prabhupādīpa kartā, Mahaṁ Prabhupādīpa kartā, Oṁ Śānti, Śānti, Śānti. Salutations to the Cosmic Self. Salutations to Śrī Alak Purūjī Siddha Pīṭa Paramparā. My Dandavad Praṇām to our beloved Guru Dev, His Holiness Vishwaguru Mahāmudrā Śrī Māheśvarānand Purujī. Om Namaḥ Nārāyaṇa to all the sannyāsīs present here. Hari Om and good evening to all of you who are present here and who are watching through Swamiji TV. Continuing our topic of Kāma, Krodha, Madalobha, Ahaṅkāra, today we will talk about pride. As I mentioned, these are the five not-good qualities which pull us down in our spiritual path. All of them are, in one way or another, connected to each other. If one of them comes, then most of them will follow. Sometimes it is hard to avoid. But if we are focused-minded and have Guru Bhakti, then everything is possible. There was a man who was a very dedicated, hard-working person. Because of his good work, his charity, and all the work he did in his life, ego and pride grew within him. He felt great pride, thinking, "I’m doing so much work for the people, I do a lot of charity, I’m the richest person in the town." Again, this "I, I, I" arises. When the "I" comes, we forget everything else. Slowly, because of that, all his friends and everyone started leaving him. Whenever he was with his friends, family, or anyone, he talked about nothing else but himself. When you meet someone for the first time, you might say, "I’m doing this, I’m doing that." But for him, it was continuous, 24/7, about "me." Even his friends and family got fed up with him bragging all the time, and they started reducing their company with him. He was living in his family’s house, but he felt like he did not even exist because no one wanted to talk to him. One day, he was walking to work and saw a beautiful peacock feather. He picked it up; it was a complete, perfect feather, looking very beautiful. He looked at it and said, "Wow, how elegant it is. The peacock is the most beautiful bird. In the same way, I am the greatest person." He took that peacock feather and put it in his turban. Whenever he talked to anyone, he would take out the feather and play with it so the other person would see his uniqueness. He would play with it in his fingers, always looking at it, showing, "Look, I am the same as this feather. The feather is beautiful, and so am I." Just as the peacock flaunts its old feathers to impress others, he was doing the same. People started saying, "Okay, it’s just getting worse." As we know, the Guru is Antaryāmī; He knows everything. He knows the future, the past, and the present. He is Trikāl Darśī; He can see what is happening, where, when, and how. But He always waits until it is the right time. He first gives us a chance to realize, and if we do not, then at the end He comes to rescue us. The Guru decided, "OK, let me go and pay my disciple a visit." He decided to come to the village where that boy was living. When the boy found out his Gurujī was coming, he wanted to show off even more. He decided to give a bandarā, to distribute food to the whole village and invite everyone to eat, just to show the Guru how rich he was and how good he was doing in his life. A Guru needs simplicity, not show-off. When Gurujī came, the bandārā started and all the villagers came together. Everyone was eating their food peacefully. While serving, the boy still had his peacock feather and was playing with it. Everyone was looking at him, thinking, "What to do with him?" But they said, "Okay, now Gurujī is here, maybe he will do something." Gurujī was peacefully watching, observing, eating his food calmly. He called the boy nearby and said, "Oh, what a beautiful feather, show me." The boy, full of himself, took the feather out and said, "Look, Gurujī, what I found. It’s a beautiful feather, just like myself. In the same way as the peacock is the best, I am also the best." But the Guru always knows how we are. Even if we do not speak a word to Gurudev, He still knows every single person, all His bhaktas. He knows the insides and the outsides. We cannot hide anything from Him. You do not even need to come near Him. He will be sitting anywhere, and He has this special scanner which can scan you inside out. That is for our own good, because He knows the things that we do not know. That is why He is the Guru, the one who shows us the right path and guides us on it. The Guru said, "What a beautiful feather, my dear. Do you know the story about the feathers and the peacock?" The boy said, "No." The Guru asked, "Would you like to hear?" The boy said, "Yes." The Guru said, "OK. There was a beautiful forest, and many peacocks used to live and reside there. There was one peacock who was also very proud of his feathers. Every morning he used to flaunt all his feathers like this, up, to show all the others that he had the best feathers." In the same way, the boy’s friends started to distance themselves from him because of his show-offs. Likewise, all the other birds also started going away because they were fed up with him always showing off. One day, a wise crow decided he wanted to teach the peacock a lesson. Anyone who teaches us any type of knowledge or gives us any type of advice is also a guru in one way. First, gurus are our parents, who give birth and teach us from childhood. Then come our teachers, who teach us in school and college. Anyone older—older brother, siblings, friends—anyone who gives us any type of advice is also a guru in one type. And the highest guru is always the Satguru, who gives us that deep knowledge, those blessings, which are not achievable from any other gurus. In our prayers, we sing, "Āpo Brahmā, Āpo Viṣṇu, Āpo Kailāśa, Āpo Nārada, Āpo Śāradā." So Gurudev is everything. The crow was going to teach a lesson to the peacock, so in that case the crow is the guru. While the peacock was doing his dance, the crow landed near him and said, "Very beautiful feathers, but I have a challenge for you." The peacock said, "Yes, I’m up for any challenge that you bring." The crow said, "OK, let’s go up and let’s see who can fly higher and longer." No matter how much the peacock tried with its little wings, it could just hop from here to there, but could not take longer flights. Because of the weight of the feathers, which were pulling him down, the crow could easily fly and glide up in the sky. In the same way, the Guru told that boy that, just as the weight of the feathers was pulling the beautiful peacock down—no matter how much he tried, no matter how much energy he put into it, he could not do bigger hops—so too our pride pulls us down. That is the weight which pulls us down from our spiritual journey. When we have pride, ego, jealousy, envy, and anger, these will all just pull us down. That is the weight on us, which will just put us down and not let us fly in our spiritual journey. When he realized his mistake, he surrendered to the Gurudev. He said, "Gurudev, okay, now I’m yours. You guide me." The Guru just touched his hand on the head of the disciple and said everything would be okay. Slowly, eventually, he again started coming towards spirituality. He realized the things which were pulling him down, and he started fixing that; he started changing his way of thinking. Then he started Nisvārta Seva, doing seva, doing service to the people without anything in return. The beauty and the results of that Seva were unbelievable. That is why in our lives we also need Niṣvarta Bhāva. We need that feeling of doing things for others, doing things for ourselves, but without expecting anything in return. I know it is hard because we all expect something from someone all the time. Many of us are here, but in our heads we expect that, okay, we are now in Strelka and we will feel good. That is also an expectation. We came here for our own spiritual growth. We stay here, and what happens, happens. We just need to let go. We just need to let go and let Gurudev do the puppetry. We are the puppets, and let Him play with us. Let Him work with us. He is always working with us. Every day, there are some changes within us which we feel. But it all depends on which bhāva, which feelings we have within us. We need the bhāva of surrendering. We need the feelings of love, devotion, purity, and that is it. By experience, I am telling you that if we let go and we surrender completely, we will be the happiest people in the universe. Surrender in Him and say, "Gurudev, you do you." Then you will get everything that you ever wished for. All the problems will go, and everything will go smoothly. Most of the time, there is no problem. We just create the problems in our own mind. Human brains are very powerful. Human brains are the ones who created phones, tanks, bombs, planes, rockets, everything. So human brains are very powerful. Whatever you want to do, you can do. You can manifest good things, and good things will happen. So let Him control your brains, and then you will see the joy and the things which are happening within us. Sometimes what He says is not always so joyful. Sometimes we feel it here directly. But then, when we follow and we realize what He was really saying and the deeper meaning of it, then we will see the changes which will happen. That is why it is said, "Guru Caraṇome Arasat Tiratahe Vovidapura Nomegati." To be here in the lotus feet of Gurudev. Because the Vedas and the Purāṇas write that in the lotus feet of Gurudeva reside all the pilgrimages. We do not need to go around to have darśana of all the pilgrimages; you just come to the Gurudeva, and that is more than enough. Just come to your Guru, and that is enough. Lord Rāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa, who were incarnations of Lord Viṣṇu, themselves had Gurus. So we, as normal human beings, are blessed to have such a great Master from such a great lineage, who is always there to protect us and guide us. Lord Rāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa, who themselves were incarnations of God, served their Gurus, and that is why we, ordinary people, have such a blessing that we have a Guru who blesses us and leads us. And we are more blessed that Gurudev, instead of just staying in India, came to Europe and all other countries around the world and spread the message and created this beautiful family of mine. So we are all blessed that we are disciples of Viśva Gurujī. Good evening, dear brothers and sisters. First of all, I would like to thank my dear Avatār Purījī Mahārāj for such a beautiful program he had this week and last week. I think we were also watching a children’s program, and we were watching Śrīmad Rāmāyaṇa. Today there was one discussion, Śāstrārth, between Sītā and Gargī Mātā. Gargī Mātā asked her, "Which is the most important time? Is it past, is it future, is it present? And who is the most important?" She said, "The most important time is now, because we cannot change the past, and we do not know what is tomorrow. And the most important person is the one with whom you are at that moment." But mentally, as much as we can, with a full heart. Let us go a little bit into the past. In the last century, there was a time when there were no mobile phones. There was a time when Swamijī’s, Vishwagurujī’s bhaktas were many times going all together by bus to some satsaṅg or even to a whole seminar. This was something like thirty-something years ago. I think we were going either to Ketečkáza or to Bekešťába. That was the time when the war in Yugoslavia, ex-Yugoslavia, had already started. It was most proper to organize seminars in Hungary for the people from ex-Yugoslavian countries, which were always beautiful and peaceful. Once I was sitting in the bus. Ketečká and these places were a little bit more on the eastern side of Hungary. No mobile, no smartphone to play with, no internet connection. I am probably not a person to talk too much to everyone, so after some talks with people, I was sitting on my seat. We were now watching Rāmāyaṇa, and that time I was just reading Śrī Rāmcaritamānasa, which is Tulsīdās’s Rāmāyaṇa, because Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa is much longer, so much harder to swallow, but Tulsīdās is very beautiful, really. The poetry is beautiful, thanks to our Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar Swāmī Ganeśwar Purījī. Now we have a translation in Croatian also—so a short commercial: buy it in Croatia. I was sitting, and then slowly came, "Rāma Rāma Sītā, Rāma Rāma Sītā... Rāma Rāma Sītā, Rāma Rāma Sītā... Rāma Rāma... Sītā Rāma Rāma... Sītā Rāma Rāma Rāma... Rāma Sītā Rāma Rāma... Rāma Sītā Rāma Rāma... Rāma Rāma... Ram, Ram,... Ram." This was around 1991. Now, since most of you know me from India, and that time also, wartime, I have to tell just one story of how things happen if you really give it, if you want to make something, and then Guru Kṛpā is there. It was wartime, and they mobilized men, mostly. Ladies go voluntarily; men have to be forced to go. I was also mobilized. It was just the first of December; I was supposed a few days later to go on the Mahāsamādhi of Mahāprabhujī. I had to cancel, of course; I could not come. But then in that time, in the last century, we knew Swāmījī would come in February back from India. From different parts—from Czechoslovakia, then Hungary, and from Serbia, Croatia—we would come with the buses for one welcome satsaṅg in Vienna. Since I was there, mobilized somewhere, I do not know where, I had, like, two or three weeks in advance, I told my superior in the army that there is some program. So, you know, when I tell you a few days before that I will go that day, it was not that much that you were there for, like, five months or five years and you cannot move anywhere, even though they did not take away our passports. More or less, we would be four days, and then two days back home. This time, actually, I was in one go for something more than nine months. But nearly every two days, I would connect with, maybe exchange with the shift with someone else. So I would just try to catch any seminar that was within the reach of the car. It was a little bit like traveling from hell to heaven and back. The first time that I had to travel to heaven from hell happened just a day before my ticket for heaven. We changed the position completely, 30 kilometers somewhere on the other side. Nobody was allowed, for unknown days, to move anywhere because we did not know if tomorrow we were moving again somewhere else. Just one interruption: just on the first day when they mobilized me, I came to my superior and told him, "Look, I’m doing yoga, I’m vegetarian, I will not shoot anyone. If you give me a gun, I shoot either down or up in the sky, just so you know my 100 meters is not covered." I was thinking he would be surprised. But he said, "OK, no problem." I said, "What’s wrong with this army?" So because of this, I was not drinking either. Whenever they would go somewhere, I would have to take care of their guns and things. And those who were drinking, when they bought five liters of wine, I had to put it in one liter because their hands were shaking too much. So it was a little bit strange. But we changed that position one day, one day before the bus was supposed to go from the main railway station in Zagreb. It was supposed to go at eight o’clock in the morning. I arrived at 8 a.m. from the main station in Zagreb, but we changed it; they moved us there. So it was about 90 km from Zagreb. Then I asked the locals how to get to Sisak, which was the nearest village there. 5:30 in the morning. I said, "Perfect." Then I went to my superior. I told him, you remember, I told you three weeks ago. That day, I am going to some yoga program. Now, this time was not okay, no problem. So he said, "Well, you know, we could change any day, position, or they can just send us somewhere else tomorrow." I said, "OK, you just don’t tell them I’m not here. But if they notice I’m not here, you say, 'Oh, he’s not here,' and put everything on me, all the guilt." Luckily, that bus at 5:30 really came. One hour after 6:30, I was in Sisak, around 50 kilometers from Zagreb, trying to find out now how to get further. So, I’m at the bus station and looking: first bus, 7:30 to the country, 8 o’clock to Zagreb. And now I’m walking in the unknown city, at the bus station, 20 meters there, 20 meters back, thinking, "Now what? Taxi? No money. Hitchhiking, don’t know which side is Zagreb." And then I noticed, oh God, I’m near the railway station. It was just behind the building, so I went there. One train was standing. And one man on the window: "Where goes this train?" Zagreb. When is it starting? It should have started, but I don’t know what it is waiting for. So I stepped on the first step of the train. OK, not bad. Thank you, Gurujī. Thank you, Paramparā. And now, 8 o’clock. This train is arriving at 7:30 approximately. 8 o’clock is when the bus should start from Zagreb. And now, 8 o’clock, I don’t have a passport. So maybe someone will come earlier to the place where we should gather, and I’ll tell that one to wait for me. And I come. Really, one lady sits standing there. How come you’re here? Well, I had only this bus. And I said, "Well, I’m just in this bus, so I’m here so soon." And so I asked her to drive me in that bus, and I just jumped into the bus and took the passport to wait for me. So I catch one bus, another bus, quickly home, half an hour probably till there. Then, my confused parents, who don’t know what’s going on with me ever. I had to start seeing myself going from one uniform to another dress, and just going to one country to another. So my father brought me to the bus, and well, everything was okay. We had darśan of Swāmījī in Vienna. I came back. They didn’t move anyway, so there was just some breakthrough. And after that, really, I think in these nine months, I was probably two months with Swāmījī in different places. Part 2: A Journey of Grace: From War to the Āśram But first, two or three times, it was really like being on the edge. It was about observing the right constellation—knowing when to ask, when to move. This was one experience where you can see how they are taking care of you. Even in the beginning, you know, war is war, so it’s not something beautiful. But whenever they were going somewhere, some car would break down. Since I was without weapons, I wouldn’t break it more or run away. So they would leave me with that car while they went to fight somewhere that was a little more dangerous, let’s say. The first time, it was me and one other guy who was practicing yoga for back pain from Swāmījī. He didn’t know about Swāmījī, nothing, but we were the two left behind. At that time, there was also a more active video team from Novi Sad. They would go—Swāmījī was going to India three times a year—and now and then they would make a beautiful video about a journey to India with Swāmījī. For the first time, I saw Gurujī in this video. It’s just when he looks directly at the camera, he looks directly at you. That is the love flowing out of the screen. That was the biggest inspiration to go to India as soon as possible, of course: to have darśan of holy Gurujī. Well, for me, it was also something I had to make some effort for, to go to India the first time. It was again, let’s say, some big Guru Kṛpā. I was working; my salary was around 180, I don’t know, the currency was Kuna. I remember speaking to Slovenian friends, and they had 500 salaries, 500 Deutschmarks. You know how when someone likes to drink beer, they don’t count whether it’s 300 or 3000 Czech crowns; they think to themselves, well, this is enough for two beers, this for ten beers—they simply count it in beers. And so my first changes were for yoga seminars, and then the journey to India. So, it was about how to get that much of that currency to go to India. I was saving in the bank. I put that I don’t spend whatever extra Deutsche Marks I had; it was in Deutsche Marks. When Yugoslavia fell apart, the banks were keeping their money in Belgrade. And Belgrade liked to keep money there. They said, "It’s very safe with us. You stay there." So after Croatia, Slovenia, these countries became independent, people were hesitating to put money in the bank. They’d say my socks are very safe. But I didn’t put it in the socks; I put it in the bank. But it was very slowly growing, somehow. So I sold my TV, my video, my CD player, my LP records. Still, it was not enough. One day in the newspapers, there came out some, you know, competition—something that you just have to send your bank account number to, so that they see that you are saving in the bank, not in your socks, and you will get a prize. I put my bank number; it cost nothing. I put my name; it cost nothing, just the stamp to put on and send it. So I sent it and forgot about it. After one or two months, the telephone calls—not mobile, this wire phone—"Well, you know, mister, you have won the prize." Which prize? Seven days of school of sailing on the Adriatic coast. Okay, so I said, "Well, not bad, I’ll be the sailor." I told this to my work, to my friends at work. This was maybe Thursday, Friday. On Monday, I came back to work, and some of them told me, "Did you put in our newspapers? There were, like, three or four pages in the middle with some ‘I’m selling this, I’m selling that, I’m buying this, selling a house, selling a car.’" So somebody told me, "Did you put that you are selling your boat trip, your school of sailing?" I said, "No, I didn’t." But I said, "I have to find out these newspapers." So I called, found these newspapers, and got the number from the person who was selling. I called him. "This was my son. He has already sold it. I’m sorry." Already, even now my heart is beating. The day after, Tuesday, I came back from work. Of course, no mobile phone, so they had to call my home. My mother is telling me, "Somebody called you." OK, here is the number, and you can call back for this, your sailing school. I called, and yes, I’d like the sailing school. I’d like to go there. I had it; it was just a piece of paper, actually. I met with that girl; she was maybe 17. I was thinking, "Where did she get that money?" The transaction was done. My paper, 770 papers. And you see, slowly, slowly, I got to India. But without this, I don’t know which year that would be. This was winter ’93-’94. I always remember because of this photo of holy Gurujī on the altar here. It was made that winter. This was in Nepal. Gurujī was sitting on his āsana when we came the first time there to him. He was not turned this way, but the opposite way, because it was winter and the sun was better if he turned the other side. So we sat there quietly. We knew stories about holī Gurujī: he is strict, be careful. You heard from Sadhvī Sāvitrī four pages about how to do, what not to do. But we were just like this. Luckily, there was Viṣṇupurī from Zagreb who was more relaxed than we were. So after 20 minutes, he turned to our side. And this is unforgettable, of course. Now, in Swāmījī’s autobiography, there is Gurujī singing bhajans with a kartāl in his hand. That was that evening when we were with holy Gurujī there. Swāmījī asked him if he would like to sing a few bhajans for us. So, first time we hear Akīya Sattva Guru; at least we heard this then. So then, you know, you get this virus of India inside, under your skin. The next winter, I went for two or three months. I connected two years of holidays from the previous year and from the next year. But then this was also not enough. So in 1996, 1997, I went there for one year. Most of the time I spent in Jāṭanāsāma. We had some education, also Hindi and history, and something like this. And I also had other education: that somehow Swāmī Premananda and Swāmī Yogeś Purī found out that maybe I could be the jeep driver. And so I got other lessons, because Prampurī and Yogeś revealed to me that I could drive a jeep. He was learning how to drive on that blue Jeep. I also learned how to drive because we have, on the other side, the gear shift than in India. We have here, but India, like England, like Australia, they have it here. So I nearly broke this door for a few months. I was, when you are in the speed and you want to change, and you hit the door, because this is here and not here. And you know, Yogājī and Swāmī Premānanda, they are always easy. My first drive was to Sođat city, and it just happened that in the evening they had a Melā there in the city. Melā means big fair. It’s like here, let’s say, a rock concert, and you have to go through this crowd. So it was, well, I don’t know, it was winter, yes, it was winter, but I was sweating, I think. One plus point in India is that you can honk. Here you are. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In India you have to honk; that’s not possible here. That is more important than brakes. Because once I was without this, without my horn, I went off. It was a narrow road, and a tractor was in front of me. The tractor is very loud, you know. So the tractor driver has to put the music even louder so that he can listen to the music. Of course, he doesn’t have mirrors. Yes, some mirrors’ back side is hanging, you know, for decoration. And I try to put, you know, I should drive in the fourth gear, but I put in the second, so that he hears me, I want to go over. But no success. He had to go his way out of the road, then I could pass. So the horn is more important. The brake, okay, no problem. You can change to the lower gear, and you will go. Well, this once happened with me and Māṭājī, without brakes for some kilometers. But okay, this is another story. So that was my first duty, and the beauty of this duty was that holy Gurujī was the one that should be driven somewhere, sometimes with that jeep. And the beauty of it was that sometimes he had to drive to the holī Gurujī with this jeep. Even if he had his own car, he often said that we would bring him with this car, for example, to the āśram, to Nepal, and so on. So for him, in India, it’s not necessary, the belt. So sometimes, if you brake quickly, you have to hold Gurujī so he doesn’t go forward too much. And sometimes he really finds narrow roads that you go this way, you think, "Okay, this word I should not tell," yeah? I would like to get through, and somehow then, when you get through, you see that you have to go reverse through this same road back. Because he really, many times on the way, he just remembered Sambhakti, or some bhakta, he remembers him and he feels that love of the bhakta, and he just said, "OK, turn, go here, here, here," and then you came to, unannounced, to the bhakta’s house. Once, it was really also very interesting. I was going with holy Gurujī to Nepal, two of us in the jeep, and we were going on a way which goes through Marvar Junction, and there is one village then with a lake on the right side of the road. And then suddenly, one turtle was crossing the road. So I stopped, because she was just in front. Gurujī didn’t see. "Turtle, Gurujī, turtle." He doesn’t know turtle, I don’t know turtle in Hindi. It’s the word turtle. I don’t know how to say turtle in Chinese. "Gurujī, turtle." And so he says, "Let’s go, let’s go." "Turtle, turtle." And turtle, you know how fast it was going, you know. And so, you know how the turtle was probably going slowly. And only a little bit, okay. This is, you know, okay, this reminds me of some other story. And then, and then finally, I don’t know how many hours it was, but a few hours later, the turtle crossed. Ah, yes, Gurujī said. But regarding this slap, because slap is a word sometimes mentioned in Swāmījī’s autobiography connected to Gurujī. So, this first India, 1993-1994, Gurujī and Swāmījī were staying in their flat. Their residence was in the first building, where is now Karma Yogī’s building, next to the Bhakti Sāgar. So they were on the top floor, Gurujī’s room, where it is still now, and Swāmījī is on the other side. In the afternoon, we were like, "Here, someone is guarding on the main gate." When Gurujī and Swāmījī would go for the rest, then also we would be guarding that some Indians don’t go for darśan upstairs. So every one or two hours, we were changing. Standing, facing that someone is not going there. This is the position where now this Gaṇeśa is, and this wall is now there, that door which was there. And suddenly, somebody slapped me on my shoulder so hard that in my head, it went towards that—whom I am so good? Here is like my primary school classmates with which I should fight, that they would slap me like this, you know, on the back, of course. And I turned back. Holy Gurujī. Oh, praṇām, holy Gurujī. "Your name?" "Jai Prakash." "Very good name." So, that was enough, you know, awarded for, hopefully, many lives. It was enough, just your name, and a very good name. So this was the first physical meeting with holy Gurujī. And then, since I have this duty of bringing things from Pali, which is a city 20 km from Jadanā Āśram. So that you don’t think I’m all perfect: once I was driving Swāmījī and Gurujī in a newer jeep, I think it was the white one. And I left the key inside and locked the door from outside. So they easily find the way. Who will else drive them back to Jadanā? And since Indian cars have the screws from outside, you need the key of the right number just to open the door. But still, it took some time. So it was one year there, ’96, ’97, then ’99 I came for... well, Swāmī... well, yeah, Swāmī, Swāmī just said five years, but, well, then that time you came in ’99, yeah, we have some connection, I think. So it was, yes, in January in 2000. I don’t know if it was 18th January or something like that. Your birthday, yes, but you came to the āśram on the 8th of January. 20 days, okay, 8th January. So it was that Avatār Purījī came to Jadān Āśram. At that time, Avatār Purījī came to the āśram, to Jadanā. And I also drove Gurujī’s car from Jaipur, so thanks to that, I was also there at that time. Swāmījī always says that if you want to get good chili, you have to replant it a few times. And when I was in Jadanā, a few times I went to Jaipur for a car or something. Or for something. And I thought Jaipur is the worst āśram to stay, city, pollution. And as Avatār Purījī said, Gurujī knows, Viśwa Gurujī, your thoughts, your mind. And where will you send me? To Jaipur Āśram. And then Swāmī Premanānjī was there. Just a few days after I came, he said, "Well, you see, I have to go to get my renewal of the visa, so I go for one week to Nepal." I knew a few words of Hindi, but I should also drive, Hindi, and, well, I had to do the things in the city. So I should learn how to drive a Vespa, you know, this scooter. And because I had to do something in the city, I said to myself that I would learn to ride a Vespa on that scooter. And that scooter is still there, you see. It is a witness of some miracles also, that I learned to drive that thing. His instructions were very simple. It’s the same as the car. It’s just here is the gear shift, and you just release the clutch. And just a little bit of gas, and you go. So, okay, I said, well, perfect. Well, perfect. "How do you start it?" "Well, you just press this down." I kept this bone so many times before I learned that there is also some other way to start it. So anyway, it’s a little bit hard to sit for a long time, you know. No, I’ll just stand up because I have to show something. So, Premanānjī behind me, my teaching driver, we are sitting, and now I should just do all this stuff, you know, very simple, like the car. And Vespa was just like this, standing in front of us, and we are just like this, standing. "Perfect, you learned it. I can go to Nepal tomorrow." At that time, there were no traffic lights in Jaipur. Just the flood of cars flowing in front of you. And you have to find your place in this, you know, fish aquarium, something, just pouring in front of you. And especially when you have to cross to the other side through this, you know, movement of everything. In India, we have two rules: don’t hit anyone, and don’t get hit by anyone. And then, just, you know, the prayer: "Don’t turn off, don’t turn off before I cross to the other side, don’t turn off." Because I have to start it and then kick my bone again, you know. So this was, they call it Agniparīkṣā, no? The fiery test. So, which were my hardest days? I think these few days. Because immediately they knew the cat was not there. So some mice started to come out and wanted to eat the cheese. Anyway, very soon, Avatāra Purī was big enough to be moved to the Jaipur Āśram. So, for the first three years, he was in Jaipur. We had a very nice time. When the person who was in charge of him had enough of trying to make him sleep, I was there. But he showed some miracles also, very soon. Yeah, of course, I remember. Do I remember? But snake, first we have to come to die first, you know. At one point, Nidhī, who was taking care of him, got sick and had to go to the hospital. Who knew at that time? Only one, two words. No, no, no. This, this, this. So she took something, no, no. And then, between this, this. So Avatār Purījī knew two words and already was giving exact what order should be done, changing of the diapers. No, no, this, this. And so she understood immediately what was going on, and she accepted the advice. So they both survived. And then, once Nidhī came out of the room, "Snake! Snake!" I don’t know how it came there, it’s still a mystery, but it’s definitely the sign. There was the snake under Avatār Purī’s pillow, and I had them with the same beast. Yes, yes,... he saw it. And he saw which picture, you know, which... that this was a snake there. And Avatāre, who had his slavikār, had pictures of the letter, so he showed the picture of the snake, alphabet book. So, S for snake. So I was pointing S. Yes. And there was... I had the slavikář, and there was a picture of the snake, so I showed the picture of the snake to the letter with the snake. And there is the snake. So that time, yes, then Nidhī called us, going to Purī from Zagreb, and we were there. And then we took out the snake, and everything was fine. And if you think that he liked technology from now, when he was that time in Jaipur, whatever we would give him, you know, "Hello, hello." Phone, shoe, bottle. Hello, hello, hello. So, when I was in Jaipur, I was thinking, where is the worst place to stay? I think Delhi. And I was thinking, it would be even worse in Dillī. And of course, Master. "Jai Prakāś, Delhi Āśram," and this was... it was hard to go there, to leave Avatār Purījī, and one has to accept. So in Delhi, he looked good, and I thought, "Okay, now I’ll change the program." I think the worst place is to be somewhere near the beach. So I started, not official letters, emails. You know, like writing greetings at the end of an email. So our āśram is in Merauli. This is a part of Delhi, Merauli. So I said, many greetings from Mehrauli beach. Well, there was one threat to this. Because in the back side, I was really thinking Mumbai is the worst. And Swāmījī came with some nakṣas, with some map plan. "You see, here will be the Mumbai āśram. One flat is for me. One flat is for you. And you’ll have a nice beach." Oh, God. Well, still we don’t have that āśram, so... Thank you for the idea. But somehow I moved; my wife is from Istria, in Croatia, on the coast, and the house is 300 meters from the beach. So this email, Merauli Beach, was... But of course, then, when you came in 2010, I moved back to Europe. And then every time I come to India, it really feels like home. It’s a strange thing that even once, five years ago, I was in Kailāś Āśram. I was never there for a longer time. At that time, it was maybe two or three days. But I felt so much longing to stay in the āśram that I was sad going from Kailāś to Kathu, even though I was sitting in the car and driving Swāmījī to Kathu. So, this is, you know, there are, we say, māyā. So there is also āśram māyā, and it’s beautiful, but still powerful. And the last few times I’m going, it’s always hard to leave the āśram. Two years ago, I was in Delhi Āśram in monsoon time. I don’t know how much you know, but when it’s raining, you know, canalization, roads, and this all becomes one in all and all in one. And, you know, after one month there, sweating and walking in the dirty streets every time, you forget to change them because it’s always the same dirt. But still, it was hard to leave. So this is the beauty of our life with our paramparā. I could talk more, but I think it should be more than enough. And I also want to thank, at the end, all the karma yogīs, Vasant, and all other visible and invisible people here, who are doing so much work for all of us. To our young TV team, who are also working all the time. And to all of you, that you find your time to be here and to make all this beautiful atmosphere. Sometimes it’s good to hear good life experiences, no? It takes slightly longer, but at least we laugh. And laughing is good for health.