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To Yoga Teachers

Wisdom is transmitted through the master's spoken word, Śruti, and the disciple's memory, Smṛti. Authenticity requires the consensus of many disciples, empowered by the master's blessing. Without this grace, knowledge dries out, attacked by doubts and negative thoughts. To receive blessing, one must be a pure vessel, free from jealousy and anger. Purity attracts grace as a butterfly is drawn to real flowers. Ancient oral traditions were later preserved in writings spanning millennia. In the current age, external reality remains unchanged; only human attitudes have shifted, causing suffering. Seek truth, not material opinions. Constant motivation requires positive association and universal love, not criticism. Spirituality is for the selected, not the elected. Teaching is a divine duty of transmitting spiritual light, requiring complete personal purification.

"Many yugas passed while reading many books, but no one became wise. Wise is the one who reads two and a half letters, which are called love."

"Gurudeva binā kara jana yā sare. Gurudeva binākāra koṭi upayakāre."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

In ancient times, wisdom was transmitted from master to disciple through preaching and blessing. What the master spoke and the disciple heard is called Śruti. What the disciple remembered and later spoke is called Smṛti. In that era, there was no writing system; knowledge was preserved through this oral tradition of Śruti and Smṛti. The authenticity of this transmission depended on the disciple's memory and capacity. Therefore, the message of a single disciple was not considered final. Only when many came to the same conclusion—affirming, "Yes, the Master spoke this"—did their received wisdom become authentic, appreciable, and a leading stream, empowered by the master's blessing. The master's blessing acts like a stamp on a document, granting the disciple's words power and authority, much like the weight carried by the words of a person in a high position. Thus, blessing is paramount. Without it, the knowledge a disciple receives will dry out like a tree without water or a tree attacked by insects. These insects are the kuṣaṅga—doubts and negative thinking. A single negative thought can infect the entire intellect. Modern psychology states that negative thinking darkens one's own consciousness or intellect. One may hear wisdom but be unable to preserve it without blessing. However, blessing does not depend solely on the master. It is not merely given and received. We must be worthy of the blessing. To be worthy of the master's blessing, we must be pure. This is the distinction between Supātra and Kupātra—the best disciple and the bad disciple. A bad disciple is one influenced by bad company. The vessel must be clean to receive something pure. Just as in an operating theater, where every instrument is disinfected, the master seeks a disciple who is not "infected"—free from negative thinking, jealousy, anger, greed, quarreling, doubts, and criticism. You can judge your own state. According to your purity, wisdom will flow in. Consider a room with beautiful flowers. Some are real, and some are realistic plastic copies. From a distance, the eye cannot distinguish them. If a butterfly is released into the room, it will fly directly to the real flowers, not the plastic ones. Similarly, the blessing, love, and grace of the master, parents, or friends flow to those who are inwardly pure. Such a person becomes the master's successor—one who understands and works for the master. The ancient scriptures of Śruti and Smṛti, preserved through memory, date back perhaps 10,000 to 15,000 years. We know of the time of the Rāmāyaṇa, which was about 10,000 years before the incarnation of God Rāma. Even then, literatures like Ayurveda were already written. This means written śāstras have existed for longer than 25,000 or 30,000 years. This is why India is the home country of all cultures and religions, a cradle of civilization capable of maintaining multiculturalism. As we neared the Kali Yuga, changes occurred. This age influenced people with materialism, awakening individual greed, fights for position and money, and manipulation. Realization became more difficult, but reality itself has not changed. A man once asked Mahāprabhujī what to do in this Kali Yuga where nothing seems real and everything has changed. Mahāprabhujī replied that nothing has changed: the sun, moon, stars, sky, elements (water, fire, air, earth), the rising and setting of celestial bodies, the human body with its two eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, legs, and hands, and the functions of breathing, sleeping, and speaking—all remain. What has changed is your attitude, opinions, and behavior. That is why you suffer. In God's creation, truth is unchangeable. We must go for that truth, not for material opinions. To achieve something in life, to maintain constant motivation, one needs satsaṅg and positive thinking. The great are those who can love their enemy; the worse are those who love only their dearest. You should have the heart and intellect of a saint, like God. Even if someone is guilty, you should help and correct them, not with anger. I am surprised that for many long years, disciples and practitioners write to me criticizing others. I am sorry for this. They are unable to digest; their consciousness has no space for it. Their thoughts are dirty, so whatever enters becomes dirty. Many constantly telephone others, asking questions, and then tell me, "Someone told me, but I don’t want to tell you." This is criticizing, gossiping, and adding petrol to the fire within yourself and others. It shows you have not understood what you are searching for. Have you ever asked yourself what you are searching for in life? If you are searching for God and truth, why are you bothered if someone does something wrong? It is not your business. You should forgive, understand, and support them to return to the right path. You are not a psychiatric doctor to spend hours on the telephone, making a story from an ant into an elephant. Therefore, spirituality is something very peculiar; it is not everyone's subject. People are selected by destiny. In politics, we ask if you are selected or elected. Here, you are vybraní—selected. That is why you may not have clear vṛttis (mental tendencies); one word can offend you for two years. Whoever has constipation, come to me. With one word, you will have it. Now you can judge where you stand. Without understanding Gurudev and that blessing, all is meaningless. As the verse says: "Pothī paḍapaḍ jug bhayā, paṇḍita bhayā na koī. Ḍhāī akṣhara prem kā, paḍe so paṇḍita hoī." ("Many yugas passed while reading many books, but no one became wise. Wise is the one who reads two and a half letters, which are called love.") People love their car, house, and dog but not their husband. That is why when there is disharmony in a couple's life, one of them buys a dog. I am happy for that dog, as it receives the best treatment in that house. Thanks to the dog, both husband and wife smile. Someone told me that in Hamburg, if you want people to smile, bring a dog. I don't know how true it is, but I tell you what I heard. This kind of love will make you unhappy. But when you have universal love, you are for all—trees, flowers, birds, dogs, husband, wife, and friends. That is universal love, and that is the way to understand Gurudev. Therefore, Mahāprabhujī said in a bhajan: "Gurudeva binā kara jana yā sare. Gurudeva binākāra koṭi upayakāre. Koi chahe koti upāya kare. Deep Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān." Thus, blessed are those who receive Guru Kṛpā (the Guru's grace). They become a channel for that spiritual energy, the cosmic light, and universal love. The teaching becomes their own teaching. It is not easy to become an instrument of His love. As Saint Francis of Assisi said, "Father, let me be the instrument of your love to help others. Where there is misery, may I bring happiness. Let me be the bridge to unite all together, the bridge over which love, understanding, and your divine light can cross." Therefore, the teaching of yoga in daily life is not merely about being a physical instructor or teaching āsanas and prāṇāyāma. It is much more. It means imparting that spiritual light and energy. It is like receiving a flame and having to walk through a storm; whether the flame remains or blows out is in your hands. Or it is like carrying a ball filled to the brim with oil or water over hilly terrain without spilling a single drop. That depends on you, and that is the duty of a yoga and daily-life teacher. Teaching is divine. When you teach, you must think, "Nāhaṁ kartā, prabhudīpa kartā, mahāprabhudīpa kartā, hi kevalam." ("I am not the doer; Prabhu is the doer, Mahāprabhu is the doer, indeed only.") Then you will see an ocean of wisdom appear within you, with waves of joy and fountains of happiness and peace. Every word you speak will be a remedy for the practitioner. That is a real yoga teacher. But this cannot happen unless you purify yourself from jealousy, anger, hatred, greed, complexes, doubts, and other impurities. Purify yourself; otherwise, you are lost, and those who come to you are also lost. Therefore, to those receiving their diploma in yoga and daily life today, I bless them in the name of Śrī Mahāprabhujī and wish them all the best. May all who come to them for learning experience and receive the light and blessing of Mahāprabhujī. May you feel that joy and happiness in your heart. Finally, you have received the real duty of karma yoga as a teacher of yoga in daily life. When you feel as a karma yogī, a sevak, that you are merely a medium through which this divine love flows, then you will experience, as Holī Gurujī said in a bhajan, "Abha Hama Guru Caraṇa." Thus, it is a blessing to teach and a great blessing to help someone. Of course, one should learn properly, teach what one has learned, and remain within the framework of yoga in daily life. Many teachers become successful but then begin to create their own fantasies.

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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