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Spirituality depends on your inner behavior

A spiritual discourse on the fourfold path of karma, covering action, thought, word, and social position.

"Mental action is more dangerous than physical action. Therefore, it is said: before thinking, measure in your heart that feeling, if you should think or not."

"Mahāprabhujī said: before you speak some sentence to someone, good or bad, measure in your heart with a scale how heavy it is so that you will not harm others."

Swami Avatarpuri explains the profound impacts of karma performed through body, mind, speech, and social standing. He details how thoughts and words create lasting karmic impressions, using the analogy of throwing dust at the sun to describe negative thoughts toward a spiritual master. The talk emphasizes selfless work as worship, mindful speech, and the heavy responsibility of those in positions of power or wealth, concluding that spiritual life depends on inner behavior free from selfishness.

Recording location: Australia, Sunshine Coast, Australian tour

Give, don't take. This is reflected in the English saying: work is worship. Work is worship. My work is my prayer. My work is my sādhanā. Who doesn't know what sādhanā is? Sādhanā means practice, spiritual practice. So, when you think, let's say, about me—of course, you don't know what to think about me—but if you think good about me, my good energy, my good light, my spiritual light will go to you. And if you think of me badly, my hands are also not so clean, okay? I am also a normal human being like you. I also get angry. You know what you did. Anything I am doing will flow to you when you think negatively about me. In spirituality, it is said that through the blessing of Gurudev, through the mercy of God, and through selfless, tireless work for good things, through prayers, through the practice of mantra and meditation, suddenly you realize your ātmā. At that time, you become free from those karmas, but still you are in the body. Still, your body is doing karma. Now, when the master—let's say the master, or a disciple also can be a master; you will one day be a master of all if you practice—when you think good about your master, then his spiritual light, his spiritual consciousness transfers into your consciousness. And when you begin to think badly, then his bad actions will enter into you because he is that kind of pure ātmā and pure consciousness. Nothing can remain, no dust can remain on it. It becomes like the sun, and you say, "I don't like the sun," and you take a handful of dust and throw it at the sun. Here you are. What will happen? All the dust will fall on you. It will not reach the sun. So, mental action is more dangerous than physical action. Therefore, it is said: before thinking, measure in your heart that feeling, if you should think or not. The third way of doing karma is speaking verbally. It is said: if you are injured by a knife, you have a wound that will heal again. Sooner or later, it will heal. But if you are injured through harsh words, negative words, that will remain in your heart as a wound lifelong. Yes, we will forgive, but we will not forget. Therefore, it is said: when you are cooking something in the kitchen and it doesn't smell so good, keep your windows and doors closed and cover the pot. If you take the lid away, then keep windows and doors closed. And if you open your doors and windows, the smell will go out, then you cannot control it. Therefore, this smell is filling inside mentally; then cover this with your intellect, positive intellect, with your viveka, and work in your heart and Viśuddhi Chakra to neutralize this smell, this desire, feeling of a good thing or bad thing, anything. Mahāprabhujī said: before you speak some sentence to someone, good or bad, measure in your heart with a scale how heavy it is so that you will not harm others. Mahāprabhujī said in his bhajans: speak in such a way like beautiful flowers are coming from your mouth, or nectar is flowing, ānanda, nectar of wisdom, nectar of immortality, the nectar of love. And for this, you need not meditate whole day and night. Work normally. If you are not working normally and living from others, you are taking so much karma on you; next life you have to pay it back. Please don't be angry, anybody who is sitting here, but I must give you one example. We say: next time you will be that mule, donkey, and have to carry the heavy load on your back through the hills, up and down. The person who will load the heaviness on your back has no mercy. We don't know where this leaf will fall down. What will happen? It is not sure that a human will be born again as a human. It can be. Still, we have very good karma. You will be born again as a very good yogī. Okay? If you keep neutral as it is, until next year I come, if you fall down, then again I have to wake you up. So, my dear brothers and sisters, your words should inspire someone. Your words should not disappoint someone. Your words should not cause pain in someone. Your words should not confuse someone. Your words should not pull someone away from spirituality or good work, what they are doing. And the fourth kind of karma, which we do through our social position, that's very hard also. Let's say a politician, a prime minister or a president or minister, so-and-so, X, Y, Z. They have a very hard life. They have very hard decisions. A president or a prime minister of a country, let's say your prime minister here in Australia, he's not only prime minister for the Sunshine Coast, he's also for Tasmania, he's also for Perth and that other part of Australia. He's for entire Australia, and he's not for particular people, he's for everyone. Understand their position. Do not blame your ministers or anyone, why they don't do this and why they are doing this. It is easy for us to give some judgment, but to understand their position—even the mayor of this city, do you call it a city or a village? What is this? You think it is a city. Also, we have to think of the original Aborigines, Australians, immigrated Australians, and those who came as tourists and now live here; we have to think of them too. So, to give judgment to someone is not good; understand them, support them, and have a feeling in the heart. But if that person who has a higher social position misuses it, then karma comes back. If one uses it for good things, karma will come good for that person. So, tan, man, bachan, and dhan—these are four kinds of karma through which we or our life is influenced physically, mentally, verbally, and with social position, which also means richness, your money. That's it. You think you have a lot of money and you will do everything you like. It's not good. So, spirituality depends on our inner behavior, our thinking, our words, our actions; our dealings should not be with selfishness, should not be with hate, should not be with jealousy, but with understanding. Yes, everyone can make a mistake. And people who want to find a mistake, they find it in God also. My dear, it's not easy to be God, okay? Do not take the position of God, I tell you. It's not easy. Let Him do the business. Recording location: Australia, Sunshine Coast, Australian 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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