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

A historical recollection by Swami Maheshwarananda about his first journey to communist Czechoslovakia.

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

"So I must tell you what Holy Gurujī said: that my saṅkalpa, Maheśvarānanda saṅkalpa, will always be fulfilled because of Mahāprabhujī."

Swamiji recounts receiving an invitation in 1972 to visit Czechoslovakia, a country he had never heard of, despite warnings from his Austrian disciples that it was a "prison" where one could not speak about God. He describes the journey by train, setting up a small altar in his compartment, and his late-night arrival in Opava. He reflects on the growth of the mission from those first 40-50 people to hundreds of thousands receiving the teachings of Yoga in Daily Life, crediting the divine grace of Mahaprabhuji for the fulfillment of his resolve.

Recording location: Czech Republic, Stilky, Welcome Seminar

Thank you, everyone. This is a very historical time. In 1972, in the month of May, I believe, I received a visitor in Vienna. A gentleman—unfortunately not here today—was on a one-day business trip there. At 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 is the same thing. It was a different bhāva then, and now it is a different bhāva. In any case, it is Mahāprabhujī's blessing, our saṅkalpa. That situation has changed; otherwise, you know, it would have lasted longer. China is very interesting. The Hungarians refused my visa, and then once they gave me a visa, but I had to go back from the border. 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. They said, "Swāmījī, we don't know if in our life we will see that day." But I said, "What you think impossible, Gurudev can make possible, and what you think is possible, he can make impossible." That was my saṅkalpa: that you should become free from communism. And really, on the very next day, I was in Hungary. I don't know how it happened—visa and everything—the next day I was already there. So I must tell you what Holy Gurujī said: that my saṅkalpa, Maheśvarānanda saṅkalpa, will always be fulfilled because of Mahāprabhujī. Until today, any kind of my wish has been fulfilled by Mahāprabhujī. Well, at that time I got an invitation that there was a big group of yoga practitioners in Czechoslovakia who would like to invite me, and they sent me an invitation. It was the first time in my life I heard the name of Czechoslovakia, you know, that such a country existed. So he sent me the invitation, and my Austrian disciples were so sad. "Please, Swāmījī, 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, when you couldn't speak about God, but now you can talk about God." Especially as an Indian, I could never imagine that you cannot speak about God. And that is a sādhu, a swāmī. They said, "No argument, please, don't talk." So one lady accompanied me from Austria to protect me. I spoke a little English, no German at all. We traveled and sat on the train near the eastern railway station. That train should connect to the Polonia Express. We got a very nice place and arranged an altar: Mahāprabhujī's and Gurujī's pictures, flowers, agarbattī, mālā. I was sitting without hair, without beard, you know. Only sandals, no socks, no shoes, just two shawls. The 3rd of February. When we came to Prešov, to Breslau, the train stopped and the controller came. He said, "What is this, mister?" I said, "My Gurū." He said, "Is it yoginī?" I said, "Yes." So we got out in Breslau. It was evening, perhaps about 8, 9, or 10 o'clock. It was the first time I had the experience of driving with someone while it was snowing, and there was heavy snow. We went by car to Olomouc. Opava was the final station. We arrived there at two o'clock in the night. 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?" He said, "Ne, rozumis?" So I told the lady who was with me, "I want to drink chai." And he said, "Chai, prosim?" So we said chai, you said chai. So they made me the chai. I will not talk further. The next morning we had a program. In that program, the first who were there—there were about 40-50 people—out of them, four are here today. Two, this is from Opava, and Hari and Mīrā. So these are from my first lecture, the first day in Czechoslovakia. Thank you. There are a few more, but they are not here today. I always had a nice time. Sometimes not so nice, but that which is not nice is also nice. And of course, they are the seeds and you are the fruits. I would say hundreds of thousands of disciples are in Czechoslovakia. On each of my visits, many people received mantra initiation. In communist times, it was not easy to get a mantra from me because they did not know who you were. Many people wanted to see Swāmījī but were not allowed by all the ninjas. Some people were standing on the road, knowing that Swāmījī's car would pass at that time, so they could have darśan. They should not do like this, and I did not know. But some people were standing and looking and looking, thinking, "Yes, Swāmījī is going." Such times were there also. When communism was gone, on every visit hundreds of people received mantras. So in the last 30 years, many thousands of people have received mantras, and thousands and thousands, hundreds of thousands of people have received the message of yoga in their life and are practicing. According to that time and your population, once I was comparing how many people got the basis of Yoga in Daily Life, and with your population it is 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 practice at home, many changed. But the message of Mahāprabhujī and Yoga in Daily 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. Recording location: Czech Republic, Stilky, Welcome Seminar

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.

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