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Advice for Yoga Teachers

A satsang on the sacred duty of a yoga teacher, blending personal anecdotes with teachings from the lineage of Mahāprabhujī.

"You are not a physical instructor. You are not a physiotherapist. You are a master, a very spiritual master. You are carrying this divine light."

"If you can teach someone, even one person, if you can inspire and motivate one person to lead to Self-realization, it means that you gave the blessing to the whole of mankind."

Swami Maheshwarananda addresses students, emphasizing that a true yoga teacher is a spiritual guide and a messenger of the guru's light, not merely a physical instructor. He recounts stories of his gurus, Mahāprabhujī and Holy Gurujī, to illustrate the power of faith and knowledge over doubt. The talk covers the importance of purifying oneself, the danger of doubt in teaching, and the responsibility of imparting the name of God as the greatest gift.

Recording location: Australia, Brisbane, World Peace Tour

We were discussing the teacher, the teachings, and inquiring about practitioners. Nothing is more beautiful, divine, or greater than teaching someone what is positive in every aspect—for the sake of good mental, physical, spiritual, and social health—and giving motivation to live a healthy, happy life, and to be successful in family life, material life, and spiritual life. We must consider all three together. Family life is very important for the people who come to practice, as Mokṣānanda asked. On the mental and emotional level, the waves become calm and steady. The hurricanes, the stormy sea, slowly become calm. In your intellect, things become clear, as we spoke yesterday about knowledge, belief, and doubt. You think you believe, but you do not believe. If you truly believe, then no confusion can influence you; you can have no negative influence from others' talking. Here, in our Līlā Amṛt, Gurujī says something very beautiful at the very beginning, but unfortunately it is not all translated; what is in Hindi is not translated into English. This is the Maṅgalācaraṇ. This Maṅgalācaraṇ on page 21, you all know it. It is about the devotee who has realized, who possesses knowledge—it is the knowledge which brings you to believe. If you just believe and have no knowledge, then you are full of doubts. You follow one path and ask someone, "Please, can you tell me if this path will lead me to Brisbane?" And the fellow will say, "Yes, I believe." Then please make sure to ask the question again: "Sir, excuse me, do you believe or are you sure?" The belief could be mistaken because in the background, in the curtain behind the belief, there is a doubt. That curtain is so gentle, it can be broken very quickly, and your doubts will overflow. They will take everything over you, and years of spiritual work is destroyed in no time. So, knowledge—when you have knowledge, you know—then it doesn't matter what happens, nothing can move you. Mahāprabhujī is very great. I think one of the best, great disciples who truly realized what Mahāprabhujī is—that is our Holy Gurujī. "Maṅgalācaraṇ Ode to Śrī Mahāprabhujī: Must be Mahāprabhu Dīp, Hari. Hari is Viṣṇu, Prabhu is the God Parabrahmā, who manifested on this Bhūmaṇḍala. Bhūm is the Earth. Prabhu who came from the Brahmaloka to this planet. Hari, God, Viṣṇu, Vāsudeva, redeemer of all sorrows and grief. Vāsudeva is Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. Come and dwell in Mādhava's heart. Accept the love of your devotee, Mahāprabhu, prosperous incarnation." In every aspect, he is complete. In every aspect, he is only Mahāprabhujī's third Goli Gurujī. In everything, he is the perfect one. The brightest flame of the universe, which was declared by Devapurījī. In this Līlā Amṛt, you have this story: how Devapurījī met Mahāprabhujī for the first time, what kind of test, what examination Mahāprabhujī had to go through. And when Devapurījī put the bhālā on Mahāprabhujī's back, Mahāprabhujī said, "Are you afraid?" Scared? Mahāprabhujī said, "In your divine presence, scared or the fear can never come near, my Lord. Whatever you do is for the sake of your bhaktas, for the sake of me, is best for me, whatever you will do." Then Devapurījī said, "O Dīpa,"—Mahāprabhujī's name was Dīpa—"O Dīpa. There is one flame, the light of the sun in this universe, and the second, the biggest flame of the universe, you are." And when Devapurījī put the knife on Mahāprabhujī's wrists, Devapurījī said, "With this I cut off all the bandages of karmas; on whom you will put your hand, they will be liberated." Unfortunately, Mahāprabhujī is not in physical form here, but if you meditate and seek his blessing, you will have one day his divine hand over your head, and my words will come true, I tell you. Unconditional love, then it will happen. So, the brightest flame of the universe appears in the heart of the Mādhava. "Merciful and gracious Mahāprabhu Dīp, distributor of mercy, redeemer of pain, you appear in the universe like nectar at the auspicious hour of the dawn. Auspicious is the nectar of your divine play. It gives us faith in Lord Hari. When we see thy divine glory, then devotion appears in the heart of all towards God. Your message is the salvation of mankind without discrimination towards the rich or poor. A bright light appeared, wonderful and unique, when the Lord Hari, the King of the Universe, incarnated in the Hari Vaśnī, the place where Mahāprabhujī incarnated the bliss. Prosperous Mahāprabhu, how wonderful and radiant you are. Mādhavānanda is overjoyed to have found you. O true Brahman, your divine play grants the highest blessing to all who hear and read about it. Hari, all are laid safely across the ocean of māyā. Venerable Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī, infinite source of happiness for those who think of him, faith will turn to happiness. Christ be Prabhu's form, Christ be Prabhu's name, Christ be Prabhu's parents, his brothers and sisters. Praise also be to Hari Vaśnī, the village where Mahāprabhujī incarnated, the place of Prabhu's birth. Praise to be the dust beneath Prabhu's feet. That earth is, that part of the earth becomes blessed." I remember here one beautiful saying by a German philosopher about Gandhījī: "The time will come and people will say, 'Such a personality walked on this planet.' Such a great person walked on this planet." So that earth is blessed where the holy lotus feet of the Gurudev touch. But only bhaktas know; others do not. Those who have the eyes can see the light. Those who are blind cannot see the light. Be the dust beneath Prabhu's feet. Christ be Prabhu's sacred fireplace. Christ be Prabhu's presence which fulfills all desires. Forever and ever, nectar overflows with Prabhu's mercy. The ashram and the village where Holy Gurujī was incarnated. Prabhu's blessing surrounds the temple here. May the devotees chant his name in their hearts and enjoy perfect fortune. This is what a prayer, a realization of the bhaktas, comes to. And those who are in doubt are out. They are out of this spiritual shelter and again lost, lost forever. Holy Gurujī often used to say, and Mahāprabhujī told Holy Gurujī, "Go and preach the name of God, bless them." And always Holy Gurujī felt like the dust of Mahāprabhujī's feet. He brought numberless disciples who wanted to have mantra dīkṣā. He said, "No, only Mahāprabhujī will give." You know, in the book, many, many stories tell how the bhaktas came to Mahāprabhujī. Blessed are they, fortunate ones are they, who had darśan of Holy Gurujī. The eyes of Holy Gurujī, those eyes which saw Mahāprabhujī. Eyes of yours that saw Holy Gurujī. Holy Gurujī's eyes that saw Mahāprabhujī, and how your eyes saw Holy Gurujī. It was a very, very beautiful time that you can't imagine what happened in that minute. You know, Mahāprabhujī used to stay mostly in Khatu Āshram, which is in the village. There was a small room of Mahāprabhujī, and there is a banyan tree. Somehow this place was neglected, and many village people took the land away, and this and that. It remained a very small space. The village people were asking me again and again if I could develop this ashram because Mahāprabhujī spent most of his time, 99%, under this banyan tree. There were no houses. The village was up in the hills, and down was only the banyan tree, Mahāprabhujī, and Hari Gurujī. Bhaktas were coming and going. A small room, just about six square meters where Mahāprabhujī used to sleep, and eight square meters where the people used to sit, that's all. I began to develop that ashram through the blessing of Mahāprabhujī and Gurujī. People who occupied the land, I had to give them some money to take the land back. And I developed that ashram a little bit. I am only a medium. Everything is done by that supreme power of Mahāprabhujī. But what I want to tell you: after one or two years with Holy Gurujī, we went to Khatu. I said, "Gurujī, please come." And when Gurujī saw this ashram, his tears were falling. And he blessed me from the depth of his heart. He said, "Mahesh, you fulfilled my dream." Holy Gurujī said, "Mahesh, this banyan tree knows what Mahāprabhujī was. This banyan tree is a witness. Under this banyan tree, I had many beautiful divine days of my life and sometimes very hard days." And he said, "Whenever I go away, I want to have samādhi here." You see, that is a disciple of the master. He receives everything. He inherits everything. But you have to become one. There is no own will. There is not any one single word that you say, "No." Two things should not come from a disciple's mouth: "No" and "Why." When there is no oneness existing, doubts are existing. There is no oneness, no knowledge. Mahāprabhujī said to Holy Gurujī, "Go and help the people, inspire the people, teach the people." The great, I think the great Kabīr Dājī or Gurū Nānak, I am not sure which one of them, said the greatest thing you can give as a donation or help to someone, and the greatest help, is a nāma dāna. Not food, not cloth, not money, but nāma dāna. Nāma means the name of God. That you give someone a mantra, the name of God, that you inspire them. And that's what our Yoga in Daily Life teacher is—not a physical instructor. It's not a physical physiotherapist. Nowadays, many different kinds of sports are developed. You can learn many things about anatomy, body functions, the nervous system, the glandular system, tissues—that is it. Medical science has developed a lot. But a Yoga in Daily Life teacher is like a holy saint. And you have to behave like that. You have to realize this. And so, one after another level, when you go, there is some kind of development. And that helps you and that fills your disciples also. But if your self is in doubt, then you learn driving. Your driving teacher will tell you how to overtake. But the driving teacher will tell you, if you have a little doubt, very little, that perhaps I will not manage to overtake, then never do it. A little doubt, "May I not manage?" Don't take the risk at all. Otherwise, an accident will happen. Similarly, if you have doubt inside, how are you going to lead others? And when you know this, then "aisā merā Satgurū andar bole," like that my Gurudev is speaking within me. In every heart is God. But adoration to that heart in which God, the Gurudev, speaks Himself. Therefore, a great saint, Swāmī Śivānandajī Mahārāj of Ṛṣikeś, said beautifully: "Within you is an ocean of bliss, and within you is a fountain of joy, and within you is the immortal one. Kill this little 'I,' your ego, your doubts. Kill this. Who are you to judge? Kill this little 'I' and lead the divine life." That's it. If you have doubt, then you can't succeed, and also you cannot help others. Then it is the blind leading the blind. So first purify your heart to be pure and make sure of a solid, solid foundation. Then you are the yoga teacher. You will understand the people, and people will feel it from you. Otherwise, there are some yoga teachers. When the students come and say, "How are you?" "Yes, I am good, but you know, my God. Yes, I had a little accident with my car, and the police, I parked at the wrong place, they gave me a ticket, and you know, I have so much pain in my ... and you know, my husband, he doesn't agree with what I do. Anyhow, I have, you know, yesterday I had a nervous breakdown, and I have to take some tranquilizer, but I am good. Let's begin with our class." Then what will we do? That's it. So, think positive, be positive. Things happen. The problem is the best university of life. Who has no problems? 85% of life is boring. Problems are there to solve. Problems are there to wake you up. Problems are there to make you more conscious, aware, and alert. And so you are a master, a teacher. That's Yoga in Daily Life. But it makes you, not that you get a 10-day or 15-day yoga course, a retreat, and you come back with a yoga certificate that says, "I am a teacher." Yes, you are a teacher. Either other fear is lost. Therefore, you are a blessed one. If you can teach someone, even one person, if you can inspire and motivate one person to lead to Self-realization, it means that you gave the blessing to the whole of mankind. They said in the Qur'ān, it is written: "If you kill one human, it means you kill the whole of humanity." That is the principle of that holy book, the Qur'ān, saying. Understand that. And if you confuse one person, you confuse all. You poison the whole ocean through your selfishness, through your desires, through your ignorance, through your anger and jealousy. You become the victim. You become the victim of all negative sufferings in the future. There are many things. Mahāprabhujī protects us. We pray for them all. And I am very happy for you that you have the divine light of Mahāprabhujī. And you are free. Go into the world and distribute this divine light into the media in the form of Yoga in Daily Life. And now we have also many DVDs, many CDs, many nice books. You have everything prepared. Just eat. You know, the dining table is prepared and served. Just take it. I was two weeks ago, or nearly three weeks now, in New York in an old home. And there are many, many old people living there. And the youngest person from this old home was a 102-year-old lady. People asked, "Ma'am, how did you become so old? What have you done?" She said, "I did yoga." And she can walk, she can talk, she makes her room, everything, and so on. And she said to me, "And you know, Swāmījī, my master told me, 'You have, you have ... ' 'Either use it or lose it.'" So I had, he gave me the yoga, I have yoga. So I use it. And if I don't use it, I will lose it. Similarly, you have this beautiful technique. Either use it or lose it. It's not stretching. It is not a marathon. It's not a challenge. It's not a competition. It is just something, an indescribable beauty. Some people say, "I don't believe in Yoga in Daily Life. It is so boring. He's moving this hand, and then this, all the way up and down. And one time this side, another time this side, and that side, and then a little bit moving like this, and like that." You know, for some people to move like this, shoulder up and down, is a dream. Thanks to God that you are healthy. When you are healthy, then your head has a sound like this. That's it. Let me hear your sound from your ... how it is. That's it. Therefore, there always would be a sound head. That's it. So, to be a Yoga in Daily Life teacher means to be a true messenger of Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī. A true representative of Śrī Devapurījī Mahārāj. And a true helper and worker of our Holy Gurujī, and the best friend of me. So now we would like to ask our Prabhupurī and your yoga name, Jayadevī. Call the Pāṭhyan name, Parmilā, that she should come and take this young couple. They are today the victim of it. So where to sit, how to sit, and it is an engagement ceremony, okay? Did Jasras telephone? Did he give you some dates? Can we phone the Jasras? So please put off the internet. So do you understand what I mean? To put the internet off is such a big sound. You are not a physical instructor. You are not a physiotherapist. You are not a stretching master. You are not that master. But you are a master, a very spiritual master. You are carrying this divine light. You don't know what you have. Realize this, what you have. Don't lose it. But you are still like a flame, and it is said, "sabbe sahāyak sabbal kī kūñ nir." Parmilā, you know, boys, you have to change your dress or something nicely. It's a beautiful time. Aur inko kau pandājī ko kān bīṭā kar ke āhuti dilāu, svāhā karau. Aur uske bād mein jo pūrā ho jāye, in dono ko mālā penvā denā. Okay? Aur pherā mat lagānā. Haan, that's it. You know very well, you're married, so you know. Why do you ask me? So, Everyone helps who is the strong one. Nobody is a helper for the meek one, for the poor one. Like, the wind will make the fire strong. But the same wind will blow off the flame. The flame is also fire, but still the flame is too weak. But that flame can develop into the big fire. So you are just a gentle flame. Protect yourself from this negative wind. Negative thinking, negative gossiping. When someone tells you something, just put off the telephone. Take example that you have in your hand a candle flame, and you have to go from this room to your house, to other house to bring the flame, and there is strong wind. You are protecting the flame with both hands and walking slowly. No? That's it. So you have to protect thy gentle spiritual light within you and let it develop and develop and develop. So you are the blessed one that you have this light, and you should be proud of thyself that you are a teacher of yoga. Recording location: Australia, Brisbane, World Peace Tour

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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