TV Channel

Today is the full moon and Rakṣā Bandhan. This day, as you see on the poster, is celebrated as "Rakṣā Bandhan, Yoga in Daily Life," and it signifies the honor, dignity, and respect for ladies. However, there is one problem: ladies do not respect ladies. When ladies begin to respect ladies, then men will have no problem, because men do respect the ladies. But ladies do not respect themselves as ladies. On the day when ladies wake up and refuse to let their bodies be abused for commercial purposes or as mere photo model objects, on that day they will regain the dignity of mothers. In truth, women are not made for running about, sitting in offices, and working. Ladies should have a comfortable, happy, and respected place at home. They are known as the home minister. The mother is the healthy root of the entire family. If you want a healthy society, then women should wake up and stay at home to guide the family and children. All these children who are out of control are so because the mother is not at home. A father cannot raise a small child. It is only the mother who can raise that child. The mother has a very high position at home. Whatever money the man earns all day, he should come home and give it to the woman. The next day, he should not ask where the money is that he gave her. There was no bank account. There was no saving. Only the wife was the bank and saved everything. In the past, the woman was that bank and saved everything. The man never bought anything, except secretly his cigarettes. So he leaves everything to his wife, and she never lets him go out in dirty clothes. She maintains her husband's dignity at all times. She handles whatever needs to be bought. The husband's duty is to earn the bread, give the money to his wife, and never ask what happened to the money. A good wife does not let the man leave the house without any money in his pocket. But when he gives money to his wife and comes home, he never asks what she did with it. This is mutual understanding; this is respect. That is very, very important. As long as a husband does not trust his wife, the family will not be in good condition. So you should trust your wife, and the ladies should regain their dignity. Do not fight for women's equality and emancipation; you do not understand. Women have a higher position than men in family life: 80% is for the mother and 20% for the father. You see, it is not only equal, but they have 30% more. Because even now, your mothers and grandmothers—except in some individual cases—guide and sustain the entire household. The whole house and family depend on and are guided by the mother. In a house where there is no lady, the inside looks like two minutes after an earthquake. In a house where there is a woman, it looks like a place where you can sit down and rest. So women have a higher position. They do have the ability, and they should know it, because they have lost this consciousness. They seek a higher position outside. But what happened? When they went to search for a high position in the street, they lost both. They lost their position at home, and they lost their position in the street, perhaps only holding a professional role for a few years. After retirement, nobody will ask you anything. The critical time of our life is our old age. When you retire, all your friends disappear. Just two days ago, I spoke with an ambassador in Austria. He is retired now, and he said, "Swāmījī, I am nearly depressed." I asked, "Why?" He replied, "Because nobody tells me, 'Your Excellency, how are you, good morning, Your Excellency.' Not even my wife. When somebody telephoned before, she used to say, 'His Excellency is not at home.' But now she doesn't even say 'my husband'; she just says my name, 'He is not at home.'" So you see, worldly position is only temporary. Therefore, Gurū Nānak said: every day is not the same for worldly people. But for a wise man, for the holy saint, every day is a golden day. And for those ladies who stayed home and cultivated the garden of the family, every grandchild and great-grandchild loves her, and she is the central point of the family—a very high position. But you lost it because you did not cultivate the family. Even your great-granddaughter or your child does not know who you are or where you are. So women should form a women's union, beginning truly at the grass roots. Only women are able to educate our future. The future of our country and the world is in two hands. The first is women, and the second is teachers. We call children the culture of tomorrow. Children are the future of tomorrow, but the future of tomorrow is in the hands of today's mothers and teachers. As you educate them, so will our world be. Mothers can protect humanity. Mothers can protect humans against drugs. Ladies can protect and reduce criminality throughout the world. It is the ladies who can protect. There will be no wars, and it is the ladies who can restore moral and ethical principles to human society. It is the ladies who can regain their higher position in this world. In ancient culture, ladies always had a high position. In Hinduism, they have always had a higher position, and even now too. It is like this: when we speak of Viṣṇu and Lakṣmī, we sing "Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇ." We say "Sītā Rām," we say "Rādhā Kṛṣṇa"; we do not say "Kṛṣṇa Rādhā," we do not say "Rām Sītā," and we do not say "Nārāyaṇa Lakṣmī." First Lakṣmī and then Nārāyaṇa, so even the identity of Nārāyaṇa Viṣṇu is through Lakṣmī. Viṣṇu is through Lakṣmī. When you say "Lakṣmī," Nārāyaṇ is already there. But if you say "Nārāyaṇ," then they will ask: who is that? It is half, empty. So, if you say "Sītā," it already carries the identity of Rām. And if you say "Rādhā," it already carries the identity of Kṛṣṇa. So women are the future of tomorrow. The future of tomorrow is in the hands of women. The future of tomorrow is in the hands of every mother, and tomorrow's peace—today's world peace—is in the hands of women. They must begin to educate children from the very beginning now. Do not buy your children toys with guns and weapons. Do not show your children videos and films where people are fighting with guns, even with toy guns. You are only giving it as a toy, but the child does not take it as a toy. If it were a real gun, the child would play with a real gun as if it were a toy, and that means he or she could kill you. So children do not need toys; they need your love. They do not need your money; they need your wisdom. If you give love and wisdom to your child, you give the richest life to your child. If you only earn money for your children and leave them alone at home, your hard-earned money has no value for your child, who leads a very bad life. It is a wrong concept to think you save and earn money for your children. As it is said: putra sa putra to kia dhan sanche—if the child is a good child, then why are you earning money? Because he or she will earn it himself or herself. Putra ka putra to kia dhan sanche—and if your child is not good, why are you earning money? This money he or she will destroy everything. So it is a very, very wrong concept that you are earning money for children. Of course, you should earn something so they have a good life; that is it. But it is wrong. Now, especially in modern times, people build a house and say, "OK, we will have three floors. The ground floor is for us when we are old. The first floor above is for Milenka, and the third floor is for František." Then Milenka marries and goes to Mexico. František marries and goes to China. And now you sit old at home; you cannot even clean the rooms. And of course, you must pay for electricity, property tax, water, and everything. Who are you? You are a caretaker; you are not enjoying the house. So many, many people built a house for their children, or bought flats or a house for when the children are grown. And the children do not even look at that house. At most, they want to sell it and have the money. And you do not know which drinking company the money will go to. So it is very important that you think in this way. Who has seen tomorrow? No one has seen tomorrow. And tomorrow will never come; every day will be today. So, in the present, be with your children and take care of them. Explain to them that fighting and aggression are not good. Children will learn from you. A man does not have these abilities to educate children; therefore, women should wake up. They should form a women's union again and make a saṅkalpa. There was one queen in ancient times who, when she married, made a saṅkalpa: the child that would come into her womb, for this soul, would have its last life. It means all would become self-realized. She said, "I will teach them self-realization," and it happened. Every child became a self-realized soul. Such is the work of mothers. And so, on today's Rakṣā Bandhan, you should support this day. Do not forget. Write in your notebook and on your calendar: Rakṣābandhan, the day of honor, dignity, and respect for women. That is it. Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Summer seminar