TV Channel

Brahma abhyāsa, vairāgya, akhaṇḍa rahe. Dinda dina prem mera adhika vadejo. We are talking about Brahma abhyāsa. What is Brahma abhyāsa? Abhyāsa means practice. Brahma is the supreme one, Brahman. In the Vedas it is said, ahaṁ brahmāsmi—I am Brahman. I am the Ātmā. Myself is that divine Self. I am not this body. This abhyāsa, this kind of practice, one should do lifelong. This is our aim: to realize that Brahman. You can say that as realizing the holy father. The holy father is not in a physical form, but as Brahman, as God. To become one with Him is our aim. Brahma abhyāsa vairāgya akhaṇḍa rahe. We cannot have Brahma abhyāsa unless we have vairāgya. Akhaṇḍa means unbreakable, everlasting, without any interruptions. Vairāgya means determination, detachment from everything. Whatever is existing here is temporary. Either you will be here temporarily in this physical body, or the things we see are temporary. Sooner or later, one day, we have to separate from these things. The reality is unchangeable, and that is Brahman. That is Supreme. The changing is this material world. The great Śaṅkarācārya said: What is pure vairāgya? Pure vairāgya is when, from here on earth all the way to Brahmaloka, you deny all kinds of enjoyable things like the dirt of a crow. You have no appetite for it. Our aim is that one: to be one with God. Then there is another kind of vairāgya called śmaśāna vairāgya. Śmaśāna is the graveyard. When someone dies and people carry the body to the cemetery for the funeral, all who come think, "My God, one day we all have to go. Nothing goes with us from this world. What is the sense of life? Finally, God is the ultimate one." This kind of thinking is vairāgya, but it is only temporary. As soon as they come back from the funeral—in some countries they go to a restaurant, get drinks and something to eat—again the jokes begin. They forget the vairāgya. Such vairāgya is not pure. It cannot help you. You never know when such vairāgya will change. It is like a camel sitting peacefully; you don't know if it will roll to the left side or to the right side. Therefore, we need pure vairāgya, akhaṇḍa vairāgya, without interruptions. I know what I want. I have decided for that. And I should do all that supports me to achieve or realize my goal. Brahma abhyāsa is constantly thinking: Who am I? Or, I am Brahman. This does not mean you completely neglect the world. That would not be healthy for social life. We should not neglect life; we shall support life. We should do good work. We have developed our intellect and our mind. We should be active and creative. Create nice bhajans, write nice stories and books, create spiritual work, do something, and live here for our fellow men. We will go away one day. But what do people have from us? They should have something good, a good remembrance. When they remember us, they should be happy and get inspiration. Be an example of a good yogī, a good human, a good father, a good mother, a good brother, a good sister, a good colleague, and a good friend. A good artist, a good person. How to become good? You can become good; just simply be good. Good thinking. In your thinking, you should always think good. And good thinking is universal good thinking, not only in your favor, not selfish, but you should think of what is good for all. There was one man who came to a Master and said, "Master, I want to get Self-realization. What should I do?" That Master had one famous sentence as his mantra. He always said, "Be good." So the man tried to be good. He came next time to the Master and said, "Master, what should I do?" The Master said, "Be good." He began to be good with his wife, good to children, good to neighbors, good to other people. He began to do good. One day he came and said, "Master, my father died." The Master said, "It's good." The man was angry. "My father died, and he said it's good?" He asked, "Master, why did you say it's good?" The Master said, "It's good, that's why I said good." When he came next time, he said, "Master, what can I do?" "Be good." He tried his best to be good. Soon he got realization. He was so good. Good is good. He came and said, "Master, what do you say?" The Master said, "It is good." The Master always used to say, "Be good," and this time he said, "It is good." Then the man realized that his father had a very unhappy life; he had a lot of pain and suffering, so his death was a kind of liberation. After his father left this body, the soul was finally released from the suffering. He realized it was good for his father. So he said, "Master, please excuse me." The Master said, "For what?" "You remember, Master, one day you said to me, when I told you my father died, 'It's good.' I didn't understand, but now I understand how good it was for my father to be released from this suffering." We are here selfish. Of course, we love all our friends, parents, and children. Our attachment is very strong. We think very much about them, but we shall understand nature. We are sitting under this beautiful tree with its beautiful green leaves, but in one and a half months they will begin to fall. In winter, there will not be one leaf on the tree, and in spring again beautiful new leaves will come—the same size, same design, same quality, same color—but they are other. So the world will remain the same; the changes are in it. That is not the same. We are born and we will die physically. Our ātmā is not born. Our ātmā will not die. Life goes on continuously. Life means life, not death. And death means death, not life. So try to understand life. And what's happening in life, good or bad, has its sense. There was a very famous king, Akbar. He had a very clever and intelligent secretary named Birbal. One day, Akbar was training with a sword and injured his thigh, causing a deep, bleeding wound. His secretary came to him. Akbar told him, "Birbal, yesterday I had an accident. I cut my thigh with my sword." Birbal was silent for two seconds and then said, "It's good." The king was so angry. Instead of expressing sorrow, Birbal simply said, "Good." Akbar said, "Get out of my house." But Birbal was such a good secretary that he was needed. After a few days, Akbar called him back to work, though he was still offended. The wound healed and years passed. One day, Akbar went with friends into the forest for hunting. Each rode a horse. They got lost and separated. Akbar went deep into the jungle where primitive people found him. They were happy, saying, "Today our offering will be successful, for we have promised a deity we will offer one human." They tied him to a tree, called their relatives, and prepared for a black magic ceremony. The priest performed the ceremony and then said, "No, this is not the right person; he is unfit. His body is not complete; he has a ten-centimeter scar on his thigh. He is not a real offering." They freed him, gave his dress back, and showed him out of the forest. Akbar was so happy, thanking God. He returned home and called Birbal. He said, "I am sorry." Birbal asked, "For what, Lord? You never say sorry. What happened?" Akbar said, "Do you remember I was so angry when I had the cut on my thigh? It was a bad injury, and you said, 'It's good.' Now I understand why it was good. If I had not had that injury, I would have lost my life today. We don't know, when something happens, what is good for it." We believe it's God's will, but we don't understand it. Someday the time will come, and we will understand what God's will was. It was good. So think good, be good, and do good; speak good and hear good; eat good, sleep good, and practice good—that will make you the good. The good is the quality of God. From the word 'good', take one 'o' away, and it becomes 'God'. So the good will make the God. So vairāgya means not to neglect the world, but to accept it, to do good things in the world, and leave good work behind you. To be good is a practice. God Kṛṣṇa said to Arjuna, "Arjuna, you should practice vairāgya, abhyāsa. Practice vairāgya every day." Then your moha and suffering will disappear. Unless you have vairāgya, the sorrows of life will not disappear, because we are too attached. We think we cannot exist without this or that temporary thing, and we think we will be lonely, we will be alone. When have you been together? Never. You came alone, and you will go alone. No one will go with you. Even if two die together in an accident, the souls have different destinies; they will not go together. Everyone has a different destiny in a different direction. So learn to be good and practice vairāgya. There is one bhajan by Mahāprabhujī: "Vairāgya you cannot realize without satsaṅg." Satsaṅg means someone who inspires us, helps us, explains to us, where we can feel the reality in our heart. Those words make clarity for us—words spoken about the truth. That is abhyāsa. Therefore, Patañjali said, "Abhyāsa-vairāgyābhyāṁ tan-nirodhaḥ." Through the practice of abhyāsa and vairāgya, you shall control your vṛttis—nirodha. Abhyāsa, abhyāsa—practice, practice, practice makes a master. Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Summer seminar