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Podcast details

To be there

A spiritual discourse on the difference between intellectual understanding and direct experiential practice.

"You can see many pictures of the holy Gaṅgā... But to be there, to dive into the Gaṅgā and come out—that is a difference."

"It is said the seed which you put in the ground has to die. That seed has to dissolve, or it has to give life in such a way that its own form has been dedicated, surrendered."

A speaker uses the analogy of observing the Ganges versus immersing oneself in it to illustrate the gap between theoretical knowledge and lived spiritual experience. He explains that true growth requires the surrender of the egoistic self, likened to a seed that must die, to allow one's divine potential to awaken and bear fruit for others. The talk warns against being a mere "bookworm" of spirituality and emphasizes the need for authentic communication, self-acceptance, and disciplined practice.

Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Seminar

You can see many pictures of the holy Gaṅgā, you can watch videos, listen to audios, or see printed photos. You can hear the stories. But to be there, to dive into the Gaṅgā and come out—that is a difference. You may look at a very nice picture on television of where the Gaṅgā begins and how it all is. A lot of mud is flowing with the water, thicker than soup. It flows, and then it becomes clean, and many other things flow into it. That is the Gaṅgā. Everything is going into the Gaṅgā, and it inspires you. You see people take a dip; some are swimming, some are doing everything. But the real experience is when you are at the bank of the Gaṅgā and you dive deep into it. You feel the water, the reality you feel on your skin. So it is that you feel the reality in the lecture, the reality in the practice, and to be with it—that is very different. Now, only those who understood me will understand this. Those who only want to listen to my voice and what I am saying and use this wisdom are different. So, do you want to get realization? Do you want to develop more spiritually? Do you want to one day become a person of inspiration for thousands of other people? Yes? Then you have to first get this energy and this development. It is said the seed which you put in the ground has to die. That seed has to dissolve, or it has to give life in such a way that its own form has been dedicated, surrendered. Out of this, another new life comes. So you are that original seed, and it is you who is going deep in meditation. You realize, yes, within you is that potential, and that potential which is within you is capable of awakening. And then "you" means your ego. "You" means your ambition. "You" means your selfishness, your greediness, your jealousy, and all these negative qualities. You have to surrender. You have to say, "Yes, I am an angry person. Yes, I am a greedy one. Yes, I am a jealous one. Yes, I want to leave this away from me. I want to get free, and I want to get this divine jyoti, this divine light." Then you can give this light further. When the seed has grown into a mighty tree and gives beautiful apples or cherries or other fruits, then it is able to give to others also. Others can then grow the seed somewhere as they like. There were some people who just look in the books, read in the libraries. They are called bookworms in English. The bookworms read this book, that book, and the lecture of that person and this person, take the main ideas, and then begin to preach. Very good. But this is only for a while; then it's finished. The artificial color of gold is not lasting ever. But the real color, the real gold, has that lasting sign in it. Therefore, acting differently outside while inside you are expecting something different—then you can't come further, you can't come one step further more. Learn what they call nowadays in modern science, modern psychology, and the modern system: they call it communication. Many people have problems communicating. So how to communicate? Some people cannot because they have psychic problems. They have selfish problems. They have another interest. Because if you communicate, then you think you will not be able to sell your goods, your products. So it means you are looking only at the consumers; you are not looking for communication. If you communicate, then you think, "Okay, with whom I communicate, people will go to that fellow." That means the problem is within you, the communication problem. And why? Because greediness is there. Ego is there. Jealousy is there. Hate is there. Complexes are there. And then the seed cannot open. It's a hard coconut; even if it can hit your head, the head will break, not the coconut. But there is a technique for how to break the coconut, how that coconut grows from itself and becomes a beautiful coconut tree, and it can create many, many coconuts for so many people. But one day David realized that, "Oh God, I lost the whole time of my life. Out of my ignorance, I was only searching for contentment outside. I never looked within myself to have contentment." But that contentment you couldn't have because you couldn't communicate. Accept. Learn to accept the mistakes. This is very important. Don't blame others. Blaming is very interesting and very easy. You move only two lips and a tongue. That's all. But to accept, you have to surrender. You have to kill your ego. Otherwise, you can't accept. So these things we can learn when we are together. That's it. Then you also learn discipline. Now, many who are observing, watching this webcast, are sitting like this on the sofa and drinking coffee and looking. And here you can't sit like that, you know. You have to sit straight. Now you see, they are sitting straight now, because there is not a life. You don't see that Swāmījī doesn't see what you are doing. So this is different. Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Seminar

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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