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Love is life

A spiritual discourse on human nature, choice, and the guru-disciple relationship.

"Holy Gurujī often used to say... 'The man is himself his friend and also his enemy.'"

"Gurujī also used to say, 'Love is life.' Because life is God. God is love, and love is God."

Swami Avatarpuri delivers a teaching, weaving together proverbs from Holy Guruji and Mahatma Gandhi with illustrative stories. He emphasizes that the qualities of a human life—and the choice to cultivate or destroy them—are in one's own hands. Through parables about jealous students and a disciple confronting a mad elephant, he explores themes of jealousy, the correct understanding of spiritual instructions, and personal responsibility for one's spiritual progress.

Filming location: Vép, Hu.

DVD 278

Holy Gurujī often used to say in satsaṅg, and many times even in a small gathering with one or two persons, he would share a profound slogan: "The man is himself his friend and also his enemy." It means you create your friends, and you create your enemies. But the quality of being human is divine; it is God. Mahātmā Gandhījī said, "Be the change you want to see." This means that what you wish to see in the world, you must first become yourself. If you want to see friends, you must first become a friend. If you want to see an enemy, you must first become the enemy. Gurujī also used to say, "Love is life." Because life is God. God is love, and love is God. God is love, love is life, life is God. Therefore, it is said: if you cannot dry the tears of others, then at least you should not become the cause of those tears. We are born as humans, but to remain human for a lifetime is not an easy task. What makes you human? What are the qualities of a human being? And what is the value of those human qualities? If you know the qualities of human life, then you will strive to remain human. For then you will realize what these qualities mean and what their value is. When you know the value of human life and its qualities, then you will understand what human rights truly mean. The human is born as a protector, not as a destroyer. Those who awaken and realize these human qualities become Nārāyaṇa. That is the transformation from human to God. To develop these qualities or to lose and destroy them is in your hands. There is a story. In one college, there were some students who were not kind to their professors. One student in particular was always very jealous of his professor. Jealousy is something that can be awakened in you at any time. You can be jealous of your master. And many of you are, are you not? Tell the truth. Even a master can be jealous of his disciples, for when destruction comes, students may try to make the master jealous for their own sake, for their own downfall. There was once a ṛṣi living in a forest, a hermit. In those days, those who wished to learn spirituality and be the best students had to live with the ṛṣi in the forest. They did all the work: the students went with the cows, grazed them, milked them, brought wood for fuel, cooked, and cleaned. There was one student who was very brilliant, and the Master was proud of him. The other disciples grew jealous. They said, "What can we do so that the Master will send this student away?" They decided, "We shall create a dispute in the mind of the master." And this works. You know, many people who do not come to me, you send them SMS, telephone calls, faxes, and emails, trying to push that person away from Swāmījī. Though you may not want to, you are jealous and try to push this person away. One day when the Master arrived, a few students were standing and talking. One said, "That student is very wise, even better than our master." Another said, "Yes, you know, even the wife of this ṛṣi, our master's wife, also declares this boy is much wiser than our master." The Master overheard this. He asked, "What are you talking about?" They replied, "No, no, we are talking about how good your student is. But we were thinking that we hope we will not lose you." The master began to think, and they brought him so far that one day he said to the brilliant student, "You have no more place here in the ashram; you have to go." The other students suffered this karma. So sometimes you do not know, but you are causing such problems, and you kill the feeling of someone. And the one who is jealous of you will speak the sweetest language to you. In India, we say, if one can die from sugar, why give poison? Many of you sitting here know what you have done and are still doing. So, the student who was jealous of his professor thought, "How is it possible that the professor knows everything? Any question I ask, he answers. I stand before him like a fool. But today I will ask him a question he will not know. Then I will gently smile, that smile of a jealous person." In Austria, they say when someone greets you with "Grüß Gott," you smile gently, but turn back and inside you are burning. I do not mean Austrians are like that; do not misunderstand. I have to go to Austria tomorrow. So he thought, "I will ask him a question he cannot answer. I will say, 'Master, you also do not know sometimes.' It means I have defeated him. Ah, that will be my happiness, endless happiness—to insult my master in front of everyone." All the students were already there. This naughty one came later, having caught a small bird in his hand. He wrapped it in a little cloth and held it behind his back so the Master could not see. He thought, "I will ask the Master what is in my hand. He will not know, and I will say, 'You see, you also do not know.'" He approached and said, "Sir, I am sorry to be late, but I am proud of you, my master. You are great, simply great, wise, the knower of everything; no one can defeat you. Therefore, about others I do not know, but I myself am very proud of you, and I am so proud to be your pupil." The master said, "Yes, come on, what is in your mind? Why are you giving so many flowers?" The student said, "Master, I am so stupid today. Though I know that you know, still my stupidity does not allow me to accept it. Therefore, Master, I have one question, and I know you will answer it, and I will again be the loser and say, 'Yes, sir, you are right.'" The Master said, "Go ahead, speak. What is your question?" The student asked, "What is in my hand, Master? Tell me." The Master said, "You have a small bird in your hand." Again, the student thought, "How does he know?" He said, "Bravo, Master, bravo! I told you, you know everything, my Lord." This is the language of a person who has doubt in his heart. "Yes, Master, you are right, I have a bird in my hand. But I have a second question." The student was thinking, "I will ask him if the bird is alive or dead. If he says it is alive, I will squeeze my fist and kill the bird and show him, 'Master, you are wrong; it is a dead bird.' If he says it is dead, I will let it fly and say, 'Master, you do not know.' So no matter what he answers, I will prove him wrong." Therefore, it is not easy to be a master, but also not easy to be a disciple. He asked, "Master, I know that you know. But one question more. Yes, you are right that I have a bird in my hand. Is this bird alive or dead?" The Master said, "My son, this question I cannot answer." "Why not, Master? You know everything." He said, "But this question I cannot answer. Why not? Because the life or death of this bird is in your hands." The student let the bird fly and surrendered to the master. So, success or failure is in your hands, my dears. Darśe Nārāyaṇa Bannā—to become like Nārāyaṇa—is in your hands. To transform from a human to a god is in your hands. But you always create negative qualities. Not only that, you work against your parents, brothers, and sisters, and also against the master and your spiritual brothers and sisters. If you think you will tell your sorrow to someone and be released from it, I doubt it. Therefore, it is still in your hands. When it has gone out of your hands, then you can do nothing. A bullet is in the gun, but the gun is in your hand. If the bullet has left the gun, then you cannot help anymore. Think it over and be kind to yourself. Do not waste time. The time which is gone will not return. Therefore, Holy Gurujī said, "Oh, ignore, soul, wake up, wake up... Gurudev is explaining to you, teaching you. You learn, wake up." So, Guru Samājāvare is something beautiful. Your Master is explaining to you, teaching you. And what the Master is teaching, you should understand properly. You may do exactly as the Master said, but still you can make a mistake. And then you will say, "But why did it happen wrong? I did exactly what you said." There was a master and a disciple living together, mostly outside the village in a peaceful forest area. The master was teaching: "Ātmā sāhī paramātmā. Every ātmā is the form of the paramātmā. Viśvaprāṇī merī ātmā hai. All creatures in this world are myself. Sva jīva bichā sū mojā ātmā. In every heart, in every one, God is living. Therefore, see God in everyone." One day, the disciple was going shopping. The village people were screaming, "Please run away, go away!" He asked, "Why?" They said, "A mad elephant is coming." He replied, "An elephant can be mad, but not the God in the elephant. See in everyone God." That is a Guru Vakya. They insisted, "Yes, but please run away. We tell you, please go away." Still, he went on. The elephant took him in its trunk, and thanks to the God living in the elephant, it did not squeeze him. It took him in its trunk and threw him far away. Luckily, that side was a swimming pool. He was injured but survived. Now he had a doubt about the Master. He thought, "I did everything. I followed Guru Vakya. I saw God in the elephant. The Master did not tell me to be careful of the elephant. The Master said, 'Everyone is God, and God cannot do such things.'" He went and told the whole story to the Master. "Master, I did everything 100% as you were telling. I was conscious, aware of Guru Vakya." The Master said, "Yes, still you did wrong." "Why, Master? I did nothing. I am not guilty. I followed Guru Vakya, and I was sure I was just walking, that is all." He said, "You saw God only in the elephant. But you did not believe in the God in the people who were warning you to run away. Are they not God?" The disciple said, "Yes, that I did not think about. I did not think about that, Master." The Master replied, "Then suffer." Therefore, wake up, wake up. Ignore not. Gurudev is explaining to you, teaching. Learn properly. Your time is going away. So, on this Guru Pūrṇimā, I pray to all our holy masters to bless you with a happy, harmonious, healthy, and long life, and with spiritual development, so that you may one day achieve your aim. Blessing is there, but the rest is in your hands. Blessings exist, but everything else is in your hands. I wish you all the best.

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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