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sadāśiva-samārambhaṁ śaṅkarācārya-madhyamam asmadācārya-paryantaṁ vande guru-paraṁparām. gurur-brahmā gurur-viṣṇur gurur-devo maheśvaraḥ gurur-sākṣāt-parabrahma tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ. mannātha śrī jagannātha mad-guru śrī jagad-guru māmātmā sarva-bhūtātmā tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ. Salutations to the Cosmic Self. Salutations to Śrīla Purujya Siddhāpīṭ Paramparā. Mai Dhanvat Pranām Swāmilāyut Gurudev. His Holiness Vishwaguru Māmundeśwar Maheśwar Ānandpurījī. Om Namah Nārāyaṇa to all the sannyāsīs. Hari Om and good evening to all of you who are present here and for those who are watching through Swamiji TV. Sorry, I was a bit late because, as I told last week, some medical matter, so I was dealing with that. All good, don't worry. Dharma is something which we all have and which we all fulfill in our day-to-day life. We have our personal dharmas to follow. We have duties in our livelihood and normal days, which we follow. So we take many aspects of life as dharma, but sometimes it's easy to get diverted from our dharma. As we were talking yesterday, dharma and adharma are two aspects: the path which is right and true, or the path which is not true or not good to do. Kusaṅga, satsaṅg, dharma, adharma—all of these are similar paths. If we are in satsaṅg, if we are not cheating, if we are not lying, then we are doing our dharma. Then we are following dharma. Actually, if we are lying, we are cheating, we are doing other things, then that is going to adharma. It is like a chariot without wheels; it won't ride. A car without wheels, a chariot without wheels won't drive. So that is adharma. That is dharma without. We have a car, we have a chariot, but we don't have wheels. Then it's not there. Or a lamp without oil. There are many examples which we can go through, but the main point is that we follow our dharma, we follow our true dharma. We all have personal dharmas, but we all see that the neighbor's dharma is better, or what he is doing is better. We are getting less, he is getting more. As soon as we get those thoughts of jealousy or ego, then those aspects pull us down from following our dharma. Even in the Bhagavad Gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa said, "Dharma rakṣati rakṣitaḥ." He who protects dharma, dharma protects him. Dharma protects itself, and the same is true for Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra. Yesterday, we had two stories of Kurukṣetra from the Mahābhārata. So when there was the battle of Mahābhārata, Kurukṣetra was the place where the Mahābhārata battle happened. So in Kurukṣetra, when Arjuna was on the chariot, he was stuck in that dilemma: what is his dharma, or what is not dharma? On one hand, he was fighting against his relatives, against his family. On the other hand, Dharma was Yudhiṣṭhira; he was Dharmarāja, the protector of Dharma, the eldest brother. So on one hand, is he protecting the Dharma by killing the Kauravas, or is it a Dharma by killing the Kauravas because they are family? So he was stuck in his head a bit. But then Lord Kṛṣṇa says to protect Dharma, you need to remove the Kauravas because they are doing Adharma. And even Lord Kṛṣṇa, or Lord Viṣṇu, said that every time when Adharma rises too much, when there is too much evil in this world, then he incarnates in this world. Already, 23 Avatars are done. The last one, when Adharma will be on the super high level at the end of Kali Yuga, then he will be reborn again as Kalki Avatar. Then he will again destroy all the adharma, and then bring dharma back, and then after which pralaya will happen. Nothing is permanent. Even this world is not permanent. We are not permanent. Thoughts are not permanent. This whole seminar, we stretched by not what, how things are not permanent. We are born, we die. Thoughts come like a storm. The rain will come, but the clouds will pass away. Same are thoughts, same as life, same as this world after the four Yugas: Satya Yuga, Dvāpar Yuga, Tretā Yuga, and Kali Yuga, which we are in, which, as I said last week, is just a baby. Approximately 5,200 years have passed only, and this is just the beginning. We still have many years to go, and it is said till the end of Kali Yuga. Anyone remembers what we said about Kali Yuga last week? Hmm, yes, what is it? Oh, best, Dharam Devī is talking about Dharma, I love it. At the end of the Kali Yuga, the people will be so small; we all will be midgets. And we will be able, the whole city will be able to have shelter under one tree. That's how small the people are going to be. The girl who is nine years old will be a grandmother already. So basically, the lifespan is approximately ten years. Cannibalism will be normal because we, all human beings, will be eating each other. There will be no more dharma left. They will be killing, chopping, stealing, cheating; everything that you can think of is going to happen. So we are very blessed and very happy to be born in this era, which may seem like not the best time because of wars, and because of this or because of that, but if we read the Śāstras, then we will know that this is still a very good time to exist, and it's very rare that great Sadgurus like Gurudev are incarnated to help us all, and to hopefully liberate us all and give us mukti, give us freedom from this cycle of death and birth. Because after, what will happen is you can't even imagine, but it's all in our mind. We all are, we are the people who are making it, the humans. God created us. Then, what did we do with it? It's up to us. It again cycles back to kuṭṭī kṛpā, four kṛpās again. Let's do it again, why not? How many of you remember it? Okay, few people, huh? So, first kṛpā, deva kṛpā. You may remember or write it down. Because we have many years till I will have seminars, and I will be asking it many times. So first, the kṛpā is deva kṛpā. Deva kṛpā means the kṛpā or the blessings of the God and Goddesses. We may ask why, because if we are born in this human life, in this human body, we have 8.4 million creatures. After passing all the snakes, cats, dogs, insects, spiders, mosquitoes, frogs, fish, birds, every single species, after we cross them—I don't know the name of 8.4 million of them, sorry—so after we cross all 8.4 million of them, finally we get the human life. Then when we get the human life, then we think, "Okay, finally we get human life," very simple. All sorted, done. Then it depends: in our human life, what are we doing with it? Kusaṅga, satsaṅg, vegetarian, non-vegetarian, dharma, adharma—what are we doing with the human life? If we're going to spend it every single day being drunk in a pub, doing absolutely nothing, being lazy, sleeping, no chanting, no any type of spiritual activities, killing animals, then we will be born again either in one of those species, or if we manage to accumulate somewhat of good karma, then again a human life. So it still depends. If we are, as Gurudev said, you cut one chicken, next life you become a chicken. So, let's say, for example, finally we dissolved all the karmic aspects, the bad karmas which we did before, and then finally we are on the path of dharma, but still not completely devoted, and there's still bits and parts missing. Then we are reborn into the same human life, living the same things, and trying to fulfill it in the next life. If somehow we get the kṛpā of Gurudev, finally we get some senses, some viveka, and we do something good. Again, it is said that there is one saint in India, he is living, I know. He says that it is his 13th life doing pūjā of Mahādev this Śrāvaṇ month. Good, uh, good topic. Tomorrow morning, as you all know, we have abhiṣeka at 4:30 in the morning, so I hope to see all of you, except the ones on anuṣṭhāna, because Nirañjan requested that if you come and wake up early for the abhiṣek, then you will fall asleep in the anuṣṭhān, but the rest of you, please, most welcome to come and join me in abhiṣek, and even the ones who are in the Roman Bednar's class, you will also be here, and we will have meditation here after the abhiṣek, and then you are free. But abhiṣek, we will talk. That's how I came to that Śiva abhiṣek we are doing here every Monday. But that saint who I know, he does on the Śrāvaṇ month, like daily abhiṣekas, he does anyhow. But in the month of Śrāvaṇ, in the month of Lord Śiva, he sits 23 hours out of 24 hours. He sits in a cross-legged position, does abhiṣeka 21 times throughout 23 hours, then one hour he has to get up, which he can't because it's completely jammed, so people somehow manage to lift him up. He goes to the Ganges, takes a dip, comes back, changes, and sits again—23 hours of mauna, one hour of somewhat speaking, changing, showering, meeting whoever he wants, Haridwār Kailāśanānjī. So he says that it will take him approximately a hundred lives of doing that pūjā to finally get liberated. But for us, we don't need a hundred lives, we need one life, because we believe in Guru Kṛpā, and we have Guru Kṛpā, and we have that great Master. That's why if we do Śiva abhiṣek, it is very good. If we do Hanumānjī's pūjā, it is very good. If we do any type of pūjā, very good. That is doing many things. But the most important thing is that every god even had a guru. And when we have a guru, then all these things are good substitutes to energize us, to get the level of good karmas and puṇya, good deeds, up. But most important is to have Guru Kṛpā, because without that, life is incomplete. Coming back to the first Kṛpā, getting born in a human life, Deva Kṛpā. Gurudev always said when I was young, "This human life is very precious. Do not waste it." How do we waste it? Of kusaṅga, obviously we all have that much viveka, and we managed to distinguish between kusaṅga and satsaṅg, and we decided to come on our weekend here for satsaṅg instead of being in a pub and drinking, which will give us temporary happiness. We will be happy, jolly, drunk out of our mind for a span of a few hours, until in the morning you have a bad hangover, and then you will go to work. That's one option. Or, the second option is we come to satsaṅg, we listen to bhajans, even that vibration of bhajans, that sound of bhajans which goes into our ears, changes the pattern. I think there was some test I was seeing somewhere. They did with the chant of "Om," how the crystals formed into an ice block or something. I was watching that somewhere, so that is the power of mantras. That is the power of the vibrations which come from the mantras. Even if we don't know how to sing the mantras, even if we don't know how to do any type of pūjās, just by listening to the mantras, that energy changes. That is why when we step into the ashram, or that is why when we step into some temple or any spiritual place, even your homes where it's spiritual, you can see the difference, you can actually feel the difference between your workspace where you're working, because that vibration completely just changes you, you feel so tired, heavy at work. You come home, yes, you're tired from the work aspect, but still we feel that energy of our own sādhanā when you're at your own home, you're doing your own sādhanā changes the vibration of the space, and the ashram is consecrated by Gurudev with the energy of Gurudev and all of us. All these energies are put into one space, and that space becomes divine then. Not only the pūjās which are done to consecrate the land, but also the energies which are put into that space throughout the years. Gurudev's energy, which he has done for so many years, is why we call this Triliki or Europe his tapasthali. Tapasthali: tapa means where he did tapasyā, and sthali means the place. So why do I call it his tapasya? Because the majority of his life he spent here in Europe, he spent in the West. And when great saints like Gurudev incarnate, they have options. One is their own mukti, which probably they were already in Jīvan Mukti, they were already free, they were already liberated, but still they got a choice if they want to get reincarnated, to help other people to become. It would be much easier if he would just stay in peace and be where he was, but no, he decided to come back into this māyā loka and this mṛtyu loka. Why? Not for himself, but for us all. Then, even when these great saints are incarnated, they again have options. Be in a cave, do absolutely nothing. There are many great Mahāpuruṣas. There's one, Kālārāj Gurujī, he lives in the Himalayas. He came down, I think, three years back around COVID, he came once down to Rishikesh or Haridwar or somewhere. He is 700 years, 600 years, and people have seen him, but very rarely. So they are great saints who still live in the Himalayas, who have this great lifespan. So if they wanted, he could peacefully just sit there in the caves; no one would know about him, nothing. But no, he was incarnated for Dharma. His Dharma is to liberate all of us, to fulfill the ultimate goal of us, and we are a gyānī manuṣ? We are people who do not have gyāna. We might have the knowledge from the books, from the scriptures, but not that inner knowledge which we all are craving for, which we all need. And for that, these great saints incarnate to this world to help us, move. It's like a boat in a vast sea. That knowledge is a vast sea, but when the boat is there to help us, that sea is full of waves. Life is full of waves, but there's a boat which is helping us to cross that wild sea, and that boat is there, but then we go to the fourth chapter, which will come later. The second chapter, that's lovely. You know, I start with one topic and then I end up somewhere else, and then I remember and come back. I was always impressed how Gurudev used to manage to jump from many topics back now, I see. That's Guru Kṛpā, you know, they flow through me, so it functions somehow. So, the second Kripa is Śāstra Kripa. Śāstra Kripa is the Kripa or the blessings of the Śāstras, of the scriptures. Now we may think, "Which scriptures?" Don't worry, we have many. We talked about that, I think, a few days back. We had four Vedas, 18 Purāṇas, 108 Upaniṣads. Then we have the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata, the Bhagavad Gītā. Then we have endless other Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣads and all other Upaniṣads. Then we have the scriptures from our Paramparā, Līlāmṛta, Hidden Powers. We have the "Yoga and Delay" book. We have many other books which Gurudev wrote. So all the scriptures are books. If we read books, but how do we read books? We need to be taught how to read and write. Either our parents taught us, or at school, at kindergarten, we learned. That was also a guru. A guru can be many ways. Teachers are gurus. Parents are gurus. Elders, guru. Youngsters, guru. Friends, brothers, sisters. Anyone who gives us any type of knowledge is a guru in one way. Because we think that we know something, but then suddenly someone tells us something, and it's something new which we didn't know. So it doesn't matter from where we can gain any type of knowledge; we should because every knowledge which goes into us is going to be useful somewhere, here and there. So, to read those scriptures, we needed a guru first of all. But even when we have those scriptures and we know how to read and write, still, to understand the depth, to understand the true meaning, even our bhajans, even now, today, for me, if I read some bhajans, they do not make sense to me. I need someone to actually explain those bhajans to me. So that knowledge, it's such a vast knowledge which can't be just understood by reading it. We need someone to explain to us. So that whichever knowledge, even without the explanation part, goes within us, that is the kṛpā of those scriptures. Then comes the third kṛpā, which is Guru kṛpā. Guru Kripa, which we all have, that Kripa which is helping us in every aspect of our life. That kṛpā is always going to remain with us. But Holy Gurujī said, the fourth Kripa is the most important, which is Khudkī Kripa, which means the Kripa or the guidance of ourself. The Guru will show us the right path. He is that Deepak, He is that light who brings us from darkness to the light. He is that torch when we are in the dark room, and He still shows the torch, and we see the way. He will show us the way; He will point us the way. That boat is there in that ocean. But where does Kṛpā come? He doesn't need to pull our hands, and He will not pull our hands and force us into something when we don't want it. For example, when Gurudev, this example I think I already told, but okay. There was one high-ranking officer in India. We know him. He was in Nepal Ashram at that time. I think Holī Gurujī was also there, and Swāmījī told, "Wait, wait." He wanted to go. He said, "I need to go." Swāmījī said, "Wait." In his head, then immediately when someone says something to us that we don't want to do, immediately comes anger. Why? I want to go. It's my wish. I want to do this. I have work to do. Even though we know that that work, or whatever we are planning to do, can wait and surely can, because most of the time when we say we don't have time, or we do have time, it's usually we make time if we tell our partners, friends, whoever, there's no time? There is a way how to find time. Within anything, you can find time here, there, not today, then tomorrow, but sometime we will find time. So he said, "I need to go." So Amjad said, "Wait." Second time, after half an hour, he said, "I need to go," so Amjad said, "Wait." Third time, he said, "I need to go," so Amjad said, "Okay." So, the Guru can warn us, the Guru can show us, tell us, but then we need to do Guru Āgyā Avichāraṇīya, which means do not try to find the logic behind what the Guru says, do not try to figure out why he said it or why not, because he is Trikāla Darśī, not us. He is the one who sees the past, present, and the future, not us. Once we become enlightened, then when we see it, it is good. But still, even when we get enlightened, then what happens? The ego boosts up. Then again, you are back down where you were. So, what is the sense of enlightenment when we are in here, going to come down? So first we remove this whole thing: Ka, Makro, Dhamma, the Lobha, Aṅgāra. Finally, when we remove all these bad qualities which are pulling us down, then finally some spiritual awakening can happen. Then, when we feel something, some people have dreams, some people have visions, some people see the Divine Light, some people see Mahāprabhujī, some people see this, see that, yes, we see everything, but then what do we do with that? Any guesses? We go to our friend, you know what happened tonight? This happened, you know, "I'm so great, I'm so great yogī, that today I saw this or I saw that." One way is to say, "Okay, I had a vision, this, that," but one way is to brag about it. And when we are bragging about it, then what is there? He goes there. These old things which are going to pull us down, so then back we are back to nowhere. We do a hundred steps of good things, one bad thing, we are back down to zero. So the first step is to calm our thoughts, which we're discussing also, because thoughts are made by yes, this is a problem. If there's a lock, there has to be a key. So, if there's a problem, there has to be a solution to the problem, right? So, if there is a problem, then there's always a solution, but instead of, and even if the key is not with us, it will be somewhere. If we can't find it, we can make a duplicate key. If we can't make a duplicate key, then the guru comes and breaks that lock. No problem, there's always a solution, but our mind will make one problem into 10 problems, into 100 problems, into a thousand problems, then finally we will solve the first problem, but then still we have 99 or 9,999 left. So first we calm our thoughts, and finally we manage to, I wouldn't say give up, but not to tap into the thoughts. Even when we are meditating, doing our mala, sitting here in satsaṅg, right now we are sitting here. Somewhere there is going on, "I have to go home today or tomorrow." Somewhere there is going on, "What will I do in three days?" Some of you are already in Rīekā next week, some of you are somewhere else, I am... where is Swāmījī? How is he? We all have different things, different waves in a... I don't know, I think in one of the guest speakers last week or two weeks back, they were mentioning how many thoughts come into our mind in the period of a few seconds or minutes or something. It was a lot. So instead of tapping into a certain thought, it doesn't matter if it's a good thought, it doesn't matter if it's a bad thought, it doesn't matter if it's a scary thought, it doesn't matter. We do not tap into any thought. Even if it's a good thought, we do not tap into it. We let the thoughts come and go. The sky is stable. The thoughts, the clouds, will come, but those clouds will pass. Now, the speed of the passing of the clouds is different. Sometimes it's going to be a strong wind, and the clouds will go quickly. Sometimes it's going to be a slow wind, so the clouds will go slowly. But even when it is slowly passing, and even if it's a dark cloud which is going very slowly, even then, what does he want? Another one, yeah. So even when the clouds are passing slowly, it is passing. So eventually, whatever comes will go, so those thoughts will pass, then new thoughts will come. But when we manage to somehow, through our peace of mind or by meditation or by guru kṛpā, or somehow manage to give up those thoughts and... Please, in some way we manage to somehow surrender those thoughts and say, "I am okay as I am." I am satisfied as I am. I am content with what I have. Because most of the time we are having everything that we need, everything that we have. But then one of these qualities comes in: greed or jealousy. Even when we have enough, we will see someone else having this thing or having that thing and say, "No, I want this, or I want this, or I want this." It is in all of us. When I was a kid, always, you know, he has a better this. He has a better, that he has a better. It is always wanting more and more and more, even with the food, our tongue will say we want more and more and more, but the stomach, the body, doesn't need that. It is enough to eat as much, but if we eat too much, then what comes, Pramod? What is Pramod? Laziness. When laziness is there, then what comes? Hmm. More eat when laziness comes.