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Laziness

A spiritual discourse on the preciousness of human life and the obstacle of laziness.

"You have had a mother and father in every life... But the Gurudeva, God-realization, and the chance to become one with God are available only in this human life."

"The time you spend in sleep is lost time. And the time we spend in laziness is a sin, for you are not aware of the time God has given you in this human form."

The speaker delivers a passionate teaching on the unique opportunity of human birth, warning that laziness and excessive sleep, especially during the sacred Brahmamuhūrta morning hours, waste this divine chance. He explains that this laziness perpetuates a cycle of suffering through countless lives, and urges practical discipline—like early rising, cold showers, and meditation—to conquer it. The talk concludes by linking this effort to Patañjali's yoga and the ultimate goal of Self-realization through detachment.

Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Summer seminar

Patañjali states, "Citta vṛtti nirodha." Strive to overcome, reduce, and bring under control all your thoughts and feelings. The greatest enemy of a human being is laziness. You have had a mother and father in every life. You have had brothers and sisters in every life. You have had a husband or wife in every life. You have had children in every life. But the Gurudeva, God-realization, and the chance to become one with God are available only in this human life. This jīvā (individual soul) within this body has been sleeping for many, many lives. Yet, the laziness has not diminished. The time you spend in sleep is lost time. And the time we spend in laziness is a sin, for you are not aware of the time God has given you in this human form. This is a discrimination against time; you kill time, you lose time because you do not know its value. In Western countries, they say time is money, but we say time is so precious that you cannot buy it with money or any precious stones. Time is as precious as your life. Time is as precious as God. Can you imagine if someone told you, "Now you have only five hours left to live"? Can you imagine your psychological state? How many messages would you send? "Please come quickly, mama, papa, daddy, quickly, quickly, only three hours are left." Every second would be worth billions. You would beg the doctor, "Please, I am ready to do anything and give everything. Please save my life. Give me time." Then you would know what time is. Right now, we do not know. This is especially true for Brahmamuhūrta, the morning hour from one hour before sunrise until one-and-a-half hours after sunrise, or two hours before until one hour after sunrise. This is a very special time. During Brahmamuhūrta, nectar flows. With the sunrise, life and energies arrive. If you meditate at this time, you gain greater benefit. If you sleep during this hour, you are lost. Holy Gurujī often said, "For those who have many sins from past lives and those with a dark destiny, sleep during Brahmamuhūrta is very sweet." Nothing feels more beautiful than sleep in that hour. If your dear husband tries to wake you, my God, he should wear a bulletproof jacket. The same if your dear wife wakes you. So for the sinner, the Pāpī, in Brahmamuhūrta—which we also call Amṛt Vela, the time of nectar—laziness becomes your destructive power. It sits on you like a devil; you cannot rise. It is like holding a football underwater; the football wants to surface but cannot. Laziness is very tricky and sweet; it plays such a game that you like it. That is why everyone likes Yoga Nidrā. In the afternoon, we have Yoga Nidrā; 98% of you who practice it, it is nothing but laziness. After ten minutes, you do not know what the instructor is saying. Therefore, the time given to us in human life is extremely precious. This human body is that diamond. You cannot buy this diamond anywhere in the entire universe, and you cannot exchange it. Now you are old. Do you think you can leave this body and ask someone, "Can you give me your new, young body?" and jump into it? No. God does not know this business. He does not want this business. Therefore, Holy Gurujī wrote a bhajan. Do you know it? "Bhai tum jagore, terā avasar bitā jāye." "O my brother, wake up. Your chance is slipping away. You are losing your opportunity." Nidrāvidyā, sleepiness, is the sign of ignorance—Tamaspūrṇa. Nidrāvidyā is chāyārūpī, like heavy clouds. Wherever you look on the horizon, it is very dark with heavy clouds. That is your laziness, your sleep, your ignorance. And you think, "Ah, beautiful." Get up. "Yes, you have to go to work, darling." "I know, I still have 20 minutes." That is laziness. The result: life after life you will suffer. You will have to go through different forms of life, and there you will suffer. No one can help you. Just as we heard—do not go to the forest at four o'clock when hunters are hunting animals—we can do nothing. We cannot go to those hunters and say, "Please do not kill them." Although the animals wish we could help them, we have no power to do anything. What is their situation? They are in a group of five or ten, and one is targeted and shot. The others know what is happening. They love their family, children, parents, brothers, and sisters. Do not think they do not understand, but they can do nothing. So this killer, in the next life, will become that deer, and that deer will become human to shoot them again and again. Thus, janam janam dukhaprad—through this laziness you will suffer for lives and lives. When a doctor comes with an injection, even though it is a very fine, small needle, our heartbeat rises. Everyone has fear; even a tree has fear when you approach with an axe. Therefore, try to develop those vṛttis (modifications) in your consciousness—healthy vṛttis—such as "I wish to be like that, and I will respect time." Quit your television programs at night. Quit your internet browsing at night. Quit going to the pub or gambling at night. Quit your telephone calls at night and go to sleep early. If you cannot sleep, meditate. The next day, get up during Brahmamuhūrta, no matter how. Tell yourself to go under cold water; I will see if you wake up or not. The whole day, do not sleep. In the evening, go to bed early; if you cannot sleep, no problem, do your maṇḍala practice. Early morning, get up under cold water. Then run, do āsanas and prāṇāyāma; work the whole day without sleeping. In the evening, you will fall asleep quickly. That is how to change the program. It is very easy; it depends on you. This jīva has been sleeping for many, many lives; there is no end to the sleep of this jīvātmā. So a human being must wake up. We will sing this bhajan this evening. So, "Citta Vṛtti Nirodha" is what Patañjali repeatedly emphasizes. Now, when you are inspired by the Master's words (Guruvākyā), when you are inspired by the śāstras (ancient scriptures), when you are inspired in satsaṅg (holy company), then some new vṛttis awaken in you. What do you do then? Where to begin? At that time, Patañjali said to direct your vṛttis; do not control or stop thoughts, but give direction to your thoughts toward beautiful thoughts. "Tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe 'vasthānam." At that time, the draṣṭā (the seer), meaning you—the witness—should fix your thoughts in your svarūpa (essential nature), your ātmā, your Self. Realize this situation which I have described. And now, where is the solution? Detachment upon detachment. As Śaṅkarācārya said in his beautiful bhajan—you know it well—where he states: "I am not these elements, I am not these thoughts, neither this body, nor these indriyas (senses), nor these prāṇas (vital energies). I have no mother, and I have no father; there is no master, no disciple. I am the divine Cit-Ānanda-svarūpa, the supreme consciousness, the cosmic consciousness, the ātmā." But if you have attachment, you are like a little mouse running under the furniture from here to there. It depends on you; it is in your hands. At that time, through meditation, you are the draṣṭā. Svarūpa—what is my svarūpaha? Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Summer 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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