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Spiritual lineage

Spiritual development depends on the source of wisdom, not merely personal practice or a present teacher. A teacher in physical form remains connected to the physical world. The lineage from which their guidance flows is therefore essential. Our lineage descends from the Himalayas through Ālak Purījī, Devapurījī, Mahāprabhujī, and Holī Gurujī. Their energy is transferred through this descent. Wisdom flows like water downhill, from master to disciple. One must be cautious of self-proclaimed masters, as a true diamond never declares itself. A great one never speaks about oneself. The connection is the vital link.

"The spirituality or wisdom which comes through that guiding Master... The source from which that spirituality is coming is crucial."

"A diamond cannot just say, 'I am a diamond.' Others have to say, 'Oh, this is a diamond.'"

Filming location: Prague, Czech Republic

Good evening to everyone once more. I am very happy to see you. I was looking forward to meeting you in Prague. It is a beautiful time; this is when Prague is most beautiful. And the most beautiful thing in Prague is all of you when I see you. This reminds me very much of when I came with Holī Gurujī for the second time to Prague. You know that, unfortunately, Holī Gurujī is not among us physically, but in his spirit, in his nirguṇa form, with his light, he is present. In spirituality and for spiritual development, it is very important to know the spiritual lineages. Our spiritual development does not depend solely on our own practice or on the guidance of the present teacher. That present teacher may be enlightened, but still, the consciousness of one who resides in a physical form is more connected to the physical world. The spirituality or wisdom which comes through that guiding Master—you may call him teacher, guru, master, or guide; these are differences of words—is very important. The source from which that spirituality is coming is crucial. Therefore, the spiritual lineage is very important. We must take care and know where that spiritual lineage originates. Our spiritual lineage is deeply rooted in the Himalayas and is several thousands of years old. We remember from Ālak Purījī. From Ālakpurījī, we remember only theoretically; we are not yet pure enough or fortunate enough to have his darśan. Then, descending from there to Śrī Devapurījī, we also have not met Śrī Devapurījī, but we have heard much about him. We have experienced many things from him. We feel the guidance of Ālak Purījī and Devapurījī, and then the coming of Mahāprabhujī. You all have beautiful experiences with Mahāprabhujī. Though our physical eyes have not seen him, we know what Mahāprabhujī was. The holy book, Līlāmṛt, tells us, and that book is a living book. After that, we know our beloved Holī Gurujī. Many of you were blessed to see Holī Gurujī with your physical eyes. When you saw Gurujī, you saw Mahāprabhujī. That means you saw Devapurījī, because the energy is transferred from those physical eyes to these physical eyes. It is a descent. This spiritual lineage is very, very important, I tell you. When it is raining, the water falls from the hill and flows down; it does not flow from down to up. That is why, always, when we have devotion to God or devotion to the Master or to spiritual persons, the wisdom comes to us. This was a very big concern of mine. I felt very discomforted that my master is sitting down and I am sitting up. That should not happen; it is the opposite, because I know what it is and what we receive from there. So, for spiritual development, for the achievement of our spiritual goal, or for our self-realization, the spiritual lineage is very important. It has something in it. You are educated according to European culture. Consider Rome, the holy chair in the room. What does that holy chair mean for you? The person who is selected, or who has had abhiṣeka to sit on that holy chair—what you call the Pope—what does it mean for Roman Catholics? It is not the physical body of that person, but that holy chair. It is the spiritual lineage. Some lineages unfortunately end, some merge into others, so we must be very careful about which kind of meditations and yoga techniques we are practicing. Are we doing something from a self-made master's techniques? They are called Swayambhu Gurus. They declare themselves, "I am the Guru." That can, and will, not lead us anywhere. It can also lead us to confusion. You have known me for many years. I always say that the wisdom, the spirituality, the knowledge, the spiritual energy that I give you is not from me. It is coming from someone. It is the link from master to master. So we know up to Holī Gurujī, and now the next ones are we—you and me. How we will succeed, how we will develop, we cannot say now. We cannot judge. You see, a diamond cannot just say, "I am a diamond." Others have to say, "Oh, this is a diamond." The diamond will never say that it is a diamond. Even if you throw the diamond in the garbage or place it in a treasure, the diamond will never declare itself. Therefore, a great one never speaks about oneself. One never glorifies oneself. And if one says, "I am self-realized, I don't need any master," then you should know how deep this water is. This water is only a small puddle, a little hole made by a cow's foot, not the ocean.

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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