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30 years of Yoga in Daily Life in Czech and Slovak Republic

This is a historical time of spiritual transmission under changing conditions. Travel was once restricted, yet the teacher's resolve was to arrive only after a political system fell. This resolve was fulfilled, and entry was granted. An early journey was undertaken despite warnings against speaking of divinity. The first gathering in that land contained the seeds for future growth. Over decades, many thousands received initiation and practice. The message has reached a significant portion of the population. Many lives have been touched, though circumstances for individuals vary.

"What you think impossible, Gurudev can make impossible. And what you think is possible, he can make impossible."

"They are the seeds, and you are the fruits."

Filming location: Czech Republic

Thank you, everyone. This is a very historical time. In 1972, in the month of May, I believe, I received one visitor in Vienna. A gentleman—unfortunately not here today—was on a business trip in Vienna. You know, in that time, journeys were not so frequent due to the rules of communism. Now you can travel as many times as you want, but you are not traveling. You don't want to go anywhere, so it's the same thing. It was a different bhāva, and now it's a different bhāva. Anyhow, it is Mahāprabhujī’s blessing, our saṅkalpa. That situation has changed; otherwise, you know, it would have lasted longer. You see, China, it’s very interesting. The Hungarians refused my visa, and then once they gave me a visa, but from the border I had to go back. So all the Hungarian disciples tried very hard for me to come. I said I will not come. I will come on that day when communism is gone. And they said, "Swāmījī, we don’t know if in our life we will see that day." But he said, "What you think impossible, Gurudev can make impossible. And what you think is possible, he can make impossible." And that was that my saṅkalpa should come true. You became free from communism, and really, on the next day, I was in Hungary. I don’t know how it happened—visa and everything—and the next day I was there already. So I must tell you what Holī Gurujī said: that my Saṅkalpa, Maheśvara Nanda Saṅkalpa, will always be fulfilled. Because of Mahāprabhujī. Until today, any kind of my wish was fulfilled by Mahāprabhujī. Well, at that time, I got an invitation that there was one big group of yoga practitioners in Czechoslovakia, and they would like to invite me, and they gave me the invitation. It was the first time in my life I heard the name of Czechoslovakia. You know, that such a country is existing. So he sent me an invitation, and my Austrian disciples were so sad. "Please, homies, don’t go. It is a prison." I said, let’s go. I will see the prison. They said, "You cannot talk about God. Don’t talk about God. No religions." I said, "That is stupid." There was a time, some thousands of years ago, Hiraṇyakaśipu was living in the time of the bhakta Prahlāda, that you couldn’t speak about God, but now... You can talk about God, and especially, like an Indian, never could I imagine that you cannot speak about God. And that is a sādhu, swāmī. They said, no argument. Please, don’t talk. So, one lady accompanied me from Austria to protect me; also, I spoke little English, German not at all. So we travelled. We sat in the train near the eastern railway station, and that train should connect to the, it’s called Polonia Express. So we got a very nice place, and we arranged an altar: Mahāprabhujī’s, Gurujī’s pictures, flowers, agarbatī, Mālā, and I was sitting without hair, without beard, you know. Only the sandals, no socks, no shoes. Only two shawls. 3rd of February. And the train stopped, and then the controller came and he said, "What is this, mister?" I said, my guru. He said, "Is it yoginī?" I said, "Yes." And so we got out on the Breslau, and it was evening, perhaps about 8, 9, or 10, and it was the first time I had the experience of driving with someone while it was snowing, and there was a big snow. And so we went by car to Olomouc. Opava. The final station was Opava. And we arrived there at two o’clock in the night. And I wanted to drink tea, and nobody understood English. I said, "Can I have tea?" And they said, "Dobro, dobro." So I said, "Can I have a tea, please?" So he said, "Ne, rozumis?" So I told the lady who was with me, I said, "I want to drink chai." And he said, "Chai, prosim?" So we said, "Chai," you said, "Chai." So they made me the chai. Anyhow, I will not talk further. So, on the next day morning, we had a program, and in that program, the first who was there—there were about 40–50 people, and out of them, four are here today. Two, this is from Opava, Hari, and Mira. So these are from my first lecture, first day in Czechoslovakia. Thank you. There are a few more, but they are not here today. So I always had a nice time. Sometimes not so nice, but that is not nice, that’s nice. And of course, they are the seeds, and you are the fruits. So I would say hundreds of thousands of disciples are in Czechoslovakia. On my each visit, many people got mantra initiation. In communist times, it was not easy to get a mantra from me because they did not know who you are. Many people wanted to see Swāmījī, but they were not allowed by all the ninjas. Some people were standing on the road, thinking that at this time Swāmījī’s car would pass, so they could have darśan. And they should not do like this, and I did not know. But some people were standing and looking, thinking, "Yes, Swāmījī is going." Such times were there also. When communism was gone, on every visit, hundreds of people got mantras. So in the last 30 years, many thousands of people got mantras, and thousands and thousands—hundreds of thousands—of people got the message of yoga in their life and are practicing. So according to that, time and your population: once I was comparing how many people got the basis of yoga in daily life, and this is with your population, about 5 to 9 percent. So many people died, unfortunately. Many are unhappily married, either the husband doesn’t want or the wife doesn’t want. Many traveled abroad, many are practicing at home, many changed. But the message of Mahāprabhujī and yoga and dead life directly went to so many people. And you know, there are many more people who are not here today, who couldn’t be here. So I am very happy and pray to Mahāprabhujī for his divine protection.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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