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The flow of life

A satsang where Swāmījī answers questions on religious practice, karma, and life's challenges.

"Alcohol is a greatly dangerous drug in the world. If you see how many people die because of alcohol, how many car accidents there are because of alcohol..."

"So this life is like water, which is constantly flowing. When water is flowing, it remains clean. When water is stuck, it becomes spoiled."

Swāmījī responds to attendees' questions, addressing the concept of sin across different faiths, the dangers of alcohol, and how to deal with a criminal boss through the lens of karma. He dismisses bird flu concerns as commercial hype and advises a person experiencing a life crisis to see existence as a flowing river and to begin a spiritual path. The talk concludes with an emphasis on remembering God's name.

Filming location: Strilky, Cz.

DVD 248

Each path declares itself to be the right way, without sin. Does this mean each path has its own karma? For example, for a Muslim who is deeply believing, it is forbidden to drink alcohol. If he does drink it, he commits a sin; he accrues bad karma. But for a Christian who is deeply believing, he or she can use alcohol as a sacred thing during the Mass. Could you please tell us something more about this? It is considered a sin for them to drink alcohol. But in Christianity, taking alcohol during the Holy Mass is considered sacred. Can you explain that? Alcohol was not allowed for Christians. What they called wine was grape juice. Israel has a hot climate. Christianity is also an Eastern religion, not a Western religion. That is why it is said light comes from the east. The climate in Israel is very hot and desert-like. So what they offered was a nice, cool juice—grape juice, which they tried to keep in the temples, in the shadows, to drink. This was written in many, many books and in the Apostles' stories. So it means not the wine. You see, in the German language, grapes are known as Weindrauben. The sound is like 'wine,' but it is not alcohol; it is grape. But this is a commercial market. Producing alcohol... one wise man or philosopher wrote, "A mother loves every child, no matter how it is. But when she is drunk and is doing stupid things, even a mother does not like that face." And Holy Francis of Assisi said, "Bury the alcohol deep into the ground so that smell does not come." Alcohol is a greatly dangerous drug in the world. If you see how many people die because of alcohol, how many car accidents there are because of alcohol, how many families are unhappy because of alcohol, how many marriages break because of alcohol, how many children are left without parents because of alcohol, how many criminals are under the influence of alcohol, how many people are in prison because of alcohol, and how many people are completely abnormal because of alcohol. Alcohol is the biggest drug. But in Kali Yuga, money is God. In Kali Yuga, money is God. What I like, I support. That is it. So in Christianity, also, alcohol is not welcomed. I am talking about Jesus, not about how it is today. Dear Swāmījī, my boss has done a lot of bad deeds and is still doing them—even some criminal things. She also behaves very negatively and insultingly towards suffering colleagues. Yet she holds a high and influential position in society. What should we do? Shall we report these criminal things to the authorities? We are afraid of losing our jobs. Karma will come back. Your duty is what Mahāprabhujī said. So, our dharma is satsaṅg. Let persons do what they have to do, or leave the place. Swāmījī, what do you think about the hysteria with the bird flu? The pharmacological industry—yes, commercial. That is commercial, selling the medicine. That is how they sell medicines. You must know how to earn money. With stupid things you can earn a lot of money. But we do not want that. You know, every creature is ill. And, of course, birds are also not immortal; they die somewhere, here and there. Every bird which died some days before, or any animal which died—if the body is lying for some days, then it creates a kind of bacteria and virus. So I do not take that as seriously as it is presented. It is a history. Unfortunately, the birds have to suffer, and they are killed. Innocent animals are destroyed. Now even your cats cannot go walking out; with your cat you have to have a chain and go out. Dear Swāmījī, my whole life passed in a way I did not want it to. For two months I have had fits of great anger. I have to bang something, for example pots or doors, and I feel I would be able to destroy, to break the whole world. Why is it so? Am I getting insane? The whole life has not passed. Otherwise, you would not be here today. So it is not true that your whole life has passed. Be happy that you did not lead the life as you wanted, because definitely you wanted something different. It did not go the way you wanted; you probably wanted something else. But it is still not too late. Do it. Do what you want. So do not be sad. Thanks to God that you are alive. And still, you are alive. Practice more. That is it. Well, many questions, and the very interesting last one: "I could not live my life as I wanted to live." This is what modern psychologists call a mid-life crisis. And now, mid-life crisis comes earlier. After some years of marriage, one is very angry with the partner: "I did not imagine having such a partner, and I lost my life with you. I had another imagination." These are circumstances, crises that come to us. But we always say that this life is a māyā, an illusion. It has no permanent circumstances. It is changing constantly, and it is very good that it is changing. Otherwise, it is boring. Can you imagine being all the time like a one-year-old child? "Mom, mom, mom." Or can you imagine being all the time in kindergarten? When you came the first day to school, you were crying. And the day came when you were studying, and you were fed up with it. Then there was a time when you had a lot of lessons, and you threw the books under the bed. You did not even want to see the books you were studying. You said, "God, my God, when will this study be finished? I want to be free." You see? And then you married and had a family, and there again you have had enough. So this life is like water, which is constantly flowing. When water is flowing, it remains clean. When water is stuck, it becomes spoiled. So life is flowing. Just feel yourself sitting on a train, looking out of the window at a changing landscape: mountains, forests, meadows, deer, rabbits, cows, humans, birds, snow, desert, sky. Nice pictures are changing. It is a most beautiful movie when you see through the window of a bus or train. So we are sitting on the train, and we are passing through. Do not think that you cannot do what you want to do. Get ready for the next life. You can do what you could not do. But still, you have time here. So the best thing we can do is, as Guru Nānak Sāhib said: O my mind, your whole life is gone till now without God's name. Without spiritual life. But now, at least you begin to remember God and repeat His name. Without spirituality, without God's name, a person is like a bird without wings, an elephant without teeth, a body without eyes. And so, without the name of God, this life is incomplete and not good. It is never late; anytime you can begin your spiritual path. That is it.

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.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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