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Be patient like a tree

A spiritual discourse using parables to illustrate steadfastness in satsaṅg and devotion.

"Life is changing. I remember one story. There was a beautiful banyan tree, and one after another, its leaves began to fall."

"Therefore, don't worry if you have more or fewer bhaktas in satsaṅg or in class... Be thyself."

The speaker narrates two parables. The first is about a 2,500-year-old banyan tree, saddened by losing its leaves, which is pruned by a gardener and becomes full of new life in the spring—a metaphor for the natural ebb and flow of participants in spiritual fellowship. The second story tells of a gardener who, after witnessing a bidding war for a flower garland meant for Gurudeva, chooses to renounce a vast fortune and offer it himself, embodying the principle of selfless devotion. The talk concludes with advice to remain steadfast and unattached, like a tree surviving on a mountain, regardless of others' comings and goings.

Filming location: Umag, CRO.

DVD 255

It is said that evidence will never die. This is evidence for us: these are the moments of your life spent full of love, spirituality, happiness, and unity. Whenever you have the longing to be with your Guru brothers and sisters, you will see the video. Life is changing. I remember one story. There was a beautiful banyan tree, and one after another, its leaves began to fall. The old banyan tree was unhappy that every year only a few leaves came; it did not get many leaves. And the last leaves were falling. Only one leaf remained on the top of the tree, on a tiny branch. One day, a little strong wind came, and that leaf fell down. The tree was very sad. "I am alone here. No one comes to me. Even my good friends, my own people, my leaves, have separated from me. I try so hard, but then only a few leaves." One day, a gardener came, and he had a saw in his hand. He came, and the old tree spoke to the gardener, "My friend, what are you going to do now? Life is hopeless. Disappointment, everything separated, no one comes to me anymore. I have so many things to tell. So many years I have been standing here—2,500 years. What I witnessed in these 2,500 years, these nine-month-old leaves don't know. But now, even this leaf is separated from me. I think the end of my life is here, but I am very sad that when I die, all my wisdom of 2,500 years will be lost." The gardener said, "My dear old friend, I will help you. You will not die, and the leaves will fight each other to come to you." And he chipped off some ill parts. The old banyan tree said, "I look ugly now. You cut my arm here and there." And the gardener said, "My dear, just wait three months; you will be the most beautiful tree in this area." Spring came, and the whole trunk and all the branches that were cut were full of leaves—many, many big, healthy, green leaves. One day, the gardener came and said, "Grandmother, how are you?" The tree said, "I thank you. I'm so blessed. I have my best friends again. I'm so rich. You see, I'm surrounded by all these leaves. I think I look more beautiful than any other tree. Don't you think so?" The gardener said, "Yes, you do. You are 2,500 years young." So, some friends are sad. They have satsaṅg, and nobody comes. Five come, and six go away. Ten come, and twenty-five go away. Don't worry. These are the ill leaves. Their time is ripe to fall apart. And what remains? Some others cut them out. Be thyself. Then they will realize, "Oh, we all went away, but this person didn't go away. Why didn't this person go away? There must be something good." Therefore, don't worry if you have more or fewer bhaktas in satsaṅg or in class. There was a beautiful gardener who used to make beautiful flower garlands. He would go to his flowers and pluck them like diamonds to make a nice garland. There was a businessman who every morning used to go to his master. One day, he saw the gardener with a flower garland in his hand. He said, "I will give you one dollar every day if you can make me a beautiful garland." So every day, he used to bring his master a beautiful garland. At that time, that garland would cost only one penny, but he used to give him one dollar. So, no doubt, the gardener was making beautiful garlands. Now, Guru Pūrṇimā came. So the merchant, one day before, told the gardener, "My dear friend, I have one request. Tomorrow is Guru Pūrṇimā, and I would like you to make the most beautiful garland, and you will get one hundred dollars." The gardener said, "My friend, I don't need $100. I will make for Gurudeva a beautiful garland." The merchant said, "No, I will give $100 as a present." Well, the next day, he made such a beautiful garland with so many beautiful flowers inside. Like an artist, a goldsmith makes a beautiful crown—he knows where to put diamonds and where to put rubies. You should know where to put what. The saddle of the Lipiśāna horse you cannot put on the donkey, or the donkey saddle you cannot put on the Lipiśāna. The artist made a beautiful garland. He was standing in front of his garden, waiting for the merchant. The king and queen both went to have darśana of Gurudeva because of Guru Pūrṇimā. The queen saw that beautiful garland. She said to the king, "Please stop here. I want to take this garland for Gurudeva." So the king called the gardener. "Please give me this garland for my Gurudeva." The gardener said, "Sir, I'm sorry to say no. This is for my customer who is permanent, coming every day. I promised him, and he will give me $100 today." The king said, "I give you $1,000; give it to me." At that minute, the businessman came. He said, "What are you doing? You promised to make this garland for me." The gardener said, "The king is giving me $1,000." The merchant said, "One million dollars, give it to me." The king and queen were looking on. The king said, "$20 million." The merchant said, "150 million dollars, give it to me." The king said, "400 million." The merchant said, "900 million." He was richer than the king, so the poor king had to take credit. But the price went higher and higher. The gardener was thinking, "What is so much in this garland? Is this garland more valued than hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars? I can't understand. I think something. He became a king because he gave such a good garland to Gurudeva. And he became a billionaire because of the garland. And I remain poor. Today I will give this garland to Gurudeva myself." He said to the king and the merchant, "Your Highness and Your Excellency, you became billionaires and kings while giving flowers to Gurudeva. Please give me the chance today to offer this garland to Gurudeva by myself." The king and the businessman were surprised that such a man, who values devotion and love for Gurudeva, refused millions of dollars. They said, "You are the best Bhakta." And he went and gave the garland to Gurudeva. The businessman said, "I promised you I would give you nine hundred million dollars. Here you are. I'm happy that you renounced and gave the mālā to my Gurudeva." The queen gave a letter to him, and the king had to sign: "I give you my kingdom, and now you are the king." That's called renunciation. Renounce and enjoy the love. He is the winner. Therefore, if some people don't come, let them not come. If they come, they are welcome. They didn't go away from satsaṅg; they went away from their good destiny. After having hard, bad experiences, they will come back—like some girls here. They go away from yoga and find some men. And after a few months of hard training, she comes back a bit exhausted. That's it. You know what's happening. So she came back to me and said, "I have hip joint pain. Gurudeva, what can I do?" I said, "What have you done, that stupid man? Every night I have to go to the discos and dance something. And so, dirty air, my lungs are suffering, and I'm completely destroyed. What should I do?" Go to the hospital of yoga. Try it. Go to the hospital of yoga and deal with life, and again regenerate, get a treatment. So those who went, they will come. And if they don't come, you don't depend on that. Be that tree which is surviving on the top of the mountains alone. Storms, rain, thunder, lightning, heat, cold, snow—it's still standing there faithfully. So, the mistake is in ourselves. And that mistake is that we think nobody loves us. Why should they love you? Tell your husband, "No one loves me." He will say, "What? What did you say, my darling?" So don't think like this. Just be there, that's all. Like that tree, in every circumstance.

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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