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Satsang is the beauty of this world

An evening satsang on human consciousness and spiritual practice.

"We humans have problems. We have many wishes, and we do believe that God will help us."

"Human consciousness is that consciousness which can filter all negative energies."

Swami Avatarpuri addresses the assembly, reflecting on the day's restart of spiritual practice (sādhanā). He explores the nature of healthy selfishness in spiritual work, the rarity and beauty of satsang, and the destructive potential of human action. He outlines five key contemplations to cultivate human consciousness: recognizing one's humanity, identifying human qualities, cultivating them, and understanding life's mission as self-realization and being a protective light. He warns against wasting the precious human life and emphasizes the importance of repeating God's name.

Filming location: Strilky, Cz.

DVD 340

Well, indeed, it's a beautiful evening. The day was a very blessed day. Every day is a blessed day, but today was a special day, that we begin our Yog Sādhanā again: anuṣṭhān, āsana, prāṇāyāma, karma yoga, walking—something for our personal thing and something for the general good. Každý dobrý začátek nese dobré ovoce. A každý negativní začátek ponese negativní plody. We are all very selfish. If we were not selfish, we would not do all these spiritual practices. So there is healthy selfishness and unhealthy selfishness. Selfishness which depends on or which takes away from others, at the cost of others—what they say: you are dancing on others' music. This is negative selfishness. The positive selfishness is that you work on your body, mind, consciousness, and your soul through spiritual practices, which you may call meditation, you may call prāṇāyāmas, āsanas, concentrations, kriyānuṣṭhānas, mantras. If we did not have expectations, we would not do. But this doesn't take others' things away, and that's a plus point. So where your selfishness takes away from others' time, others' money, others' rights, then it's negative. But you are creating and working on your inner self, which is good. We humans have problems. We have many wishes, and we do believe that God will help us. We do believe the prayers will help us. And we do believe the others' blessings and good wishes will help us, and we are praying for that. Some don't pray for these worldly problems, but for the big problem. That big problem is, again and again, to be born and die. že se znovu rodíme a znovu umíráme. Jste taženi, hnáni osudem, ať už dobrým nebo špatným. Včera večer jsem mluvil o tom, jaké máme štěstí, že jsme dostali lidský život. On my last trip around the world, which was aimed at spiritual awakening for world peace, this morning I spoke that humans can create the beauty in this world, and humans can create the ugliness. People can also create everything ugly that is in this world. Satsaṅg is the beauty of this world: good society, friendship, brotherhood, oneness, no doubts, no quarreling, no differences of colors, nationalities, beliefs, cultures, but in oneness. In the satsaṅg we are in such harmony, peace, and oneness. So this is also created by men. Ugliness, the wars—can you imagine? You have to run in the basement, you have to close the windows and doors, and outside is shooting, bombs exploding. What can be more ugly than this? This all depends on the human. Even no animal, any creature, can be so wild and destructive. They will not create war, but we do. So spiritual awakening means to understand others' pure thoughts and pure actions, and there I gave a few points on my trip which I should tell you too, which are very neutral, free from all cultures and traditions. It's universal. And this is: you know that you are born as a human, and you know that you are a human. In reality, how many times a day, or a week, or a month, or a year, do you really think that you are a human? Kolikrát za den, nebo za týden, nebo za měsíc, nebo za rok pomyslíte na to, že jste opravdu člověk. When you will think that you are a human, then your human intellect and human heart will tell you what you are doing. When you are doing something wrong, and you think, you say that I'm a human: is this right for a human to do this? So it's a big protection. As long as a soldier or policeman is in the dress, what you call the... uniform, uniform, he will not do the things which are not allowed through this uniform. That's why also for the sannyāsīs, the uniform is created. When you once become a sannyāsī and you take your uniform, as a sannyāsī uniform, then you should not jump in your trousers. If you do that, you jump in your jeans due to any circumstances—except climbing extreme in the Himalayas, walking through the snow, very cold and windy, then you may take orange trousers. Otherwise, you should not change. I told in Australia one of our sannyāsīs, when I am there the person is getting sannyās dress, and when I am not there then running in the jeans. I told the person, either give up, give your sannyās robe, or remain all the time. And when you become a sannyāsī, you are completely detached from family. It is not allowed to go to your home. So it has its rules. You go only once to your home to get bhikṣā, then finished. Yes, your family members can come to you to have a darśan. If they are in need of some help and you are capable of helping, do it. But your family is the whole world. The sky is the roof over your head. Earth is your bed. This, if you have this consciousness, then you can be successful. Otherwise, it's okay. So, you know, there is a protection, a suit, a shield. You know, there is something warriors were using in their hand, like an umbrella, you know, for fighting. What do they call this? Shield. Shield. So, your uniform is a protection, a protecting shield, which will protect you to do good karmas and also will protect you from the bad karmas. So, when you will think that I am a human, you close your eyes: I am human. Should I do this, or should I not do this? Only this one thought can save your life and the lives of many others, and can save many situations. When you talk bad about others, maybe the other is bad, but you have no right to talk about it. As soon as you begin to talk and think badly, you are not in human consciousness. You are in lower consciousness. That is what I call the backbiter and the chatterers. Human consciousness is that consciousness which can filter all negative energies. It is said there are very, very rare to see the Haṁsa, the swan. Those swans which you see in the lakes, they are not swans, they are ducks. You know the story of the ugly duckling? So this is another kind of duck. But the real swan, the Paramahaṁsa, very rare. Very, very rare people can have a darśan of that form of haṁsas. It is believed that they live in the Mansarovar lake. It is one pair of these haṃsas. And the difference between these haṁsas and other ducks: when you mix milk and water together and put the ball in front of that Haṃsa, he will drink milk and leave water behind. Immediately, he's drinking, but only milk. Water is out. Like a juice machine, a juicer. You place the fruit or the vegetable inside, the juice is coming from the other side. The rest is coming from this side. So those who have human consciousness, spiritual consciousness, they purify. Even if someone is wrong and negative, your consciousness will purify. Someone has to forgive. Even a great sinner needs to be forgiven. And that's also in Christianity, they speak. Jesus is telling, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they are doing." It means, if someone did wrong, according to your opinion, still you should be that Jesus who can forgive and purify and awaken, seeing that God-light. That means to be aware that I am a human. Otherwise, you say, "I am human. Human rights." You are discriminating other creatures. No, therefore, never put the other creatures lower than you. Express your pity for the innocent creatures. I am a human. And once a day, or three, four times a day, just for ten seconds, become aware: I am a human. This will awaken an immense spiritual consciousness and protect you. Second, what makes me human? Now you think that you are human, but what makes me human? Two legs, two hands, two eyes—many animals have those. What makes me human? These are the human qualities. Therefore, the third question: what are the human qualities? What makes me human? Means the quality makes me human. What makes the nice, cool water and the nice, cool wine? Both are liquid, but the quality is different. So what makes me human? The answer is quality. Very good. Searching for the third answer: which are the qualities of the human? What are the human qualities? The human qualities are understanding, forgiveness, kindness, and love. Harmony, peace—these are beauties of human life, these are the jewels of human life, this makes the dignity of human life. So what is it, which qualities make me human? And what are the other qualities? Anger. Jealousy. Hate. Greed. Doubt. Complexes, stealing, chatting, cheating, gossiping, backbiting. There are many sitting here who have 90% of these qualities. Mahāprabhujī said, "And still you dare to look at me?" When you have these qualities, what a shame. Still, your eyeballs don't go down. It means to think as a human. Why do I support these qualities? Hiding. Also, not human qualities, because when you are gossiping about someone, you are hiding from that one. Otherwise, go directly and tell the person. That's all. That will help the person, but to gossip behind their back, backbiting, will not help the person, but you destroy the faith of many people. So, human qualities: now, how to cultivate the human qualities and how to reduce the negative, non-human qualities. And finally, the fifth question or the thought: what is my life mission? Mission means not this. Now you begin to work in missionary. The purpose of the human life, the first, self-realization, coming out of the cycle of rebirth and death. This is the prime mission of the human life. And second, be a protector. Be the light in the darkness. When you switch on the light, the light doesn't expect anything from you. And this light will show everyone the path. This light will show you the way, and this light also will show the way to the treasure to some thief. So the light, light is neutral and for all. So these are the five questions, or five thoughts: I am human. What makes me human? What are the human qualities? How to cultivate the human qualities? And what is the mission of human life? Then the human consciousness will rise to the divine consciousness. Otherwise, it will always be descending, always going to the lower chakras and lower thoughts and lower life. Will descend into lower chakras, lower thoughts, lower lives. Therefore, this day is a very special day. It is a very beautiful day. A very divine constellation we have today, that we begin our sādhanā. Because in normal life, you have many obligations. Everyone is fighting for their bread and butter. But the rare minutes or days in life, where you can sit and become aware of thyself. This ashram is a gurukul. Kul means family, and guru is guru. Gurudev's family. So, here students come, and all students are the children of the Gurudev. And how the Upaniṣads are created. Upanishad means "up" means near, "sad" means disciple. Sitting near the master and listening to the words of wisdom. That's Upanishad, and the other translation of the Upanishad—some books have translated like the Gospel of Paramahaṁsa Rāmakṛṣṇa—so the translation of the Upanishad can be a Gospel, but it is a telling of the spirituality. Well, there is news which is not so good. How did it happen that we had such a beautiful constellation, such a beautiful day? And something happened that is not good, and that is, one day is gone. This day will not come back, whether you utilize it or not. In my whole tour in New York, I visited one old-age home. And there was one lady, 102 years old, and I had a lecture there, and so we asked her how she became 102 years old. She said, "Because I practice yoga." She told everybody, because I practice even now yoga. She's conscious, aware, good memory, moving. In Belgrade, there's one yoga teacher. She is well known, and she was a ballet dancer. She wrote a nice book, and I think she is above 90 years. And she is still making aerobic exercises, running, dancing. And very flexible, very fresh, very healthy, and she says because of her yoga. Otherwise, many other dancers and sportsmen after 50, 60 years, they become very stiff. A tato dáma mi říkala, "Svámi dží, můj mistr říkal, 'Ty máš. Máš to.'" Buď to využiješ, nebo o to přijdeš. Říkal, že máme jógu, a buď ji máme využít, nebo o ni přijdeme. So this day is gone. How did you use this day? What did you think during meditation? What did you think during karma yoga? Did you run away from doing karma yoga? Yes, Bim. And what did you think during eating? How was your day? What did you bring out? Svādhyāya, which chapter did you open today? How many chapters have you gone through, and how many chapters have you closed? That's it. Therefore, utilize it these days. So, Bābājī said, Mahāprabhujī said, "O my mind, why do you lose the human life?" Tan means the body, the human life. 8.4 million different lives of the creatures. You will be wandering here and there, and there in every life you will cry. You will be sorry that you lost the chance. You didn't use it, you lost it. O mysli. Proč strácíš tento lidský život? Využij ho. Nic není důležitější než tento život. O všem, o čem si myslíš, že je nesmírně důležité, one day you have to give up. Everything will remain here. Sabī chodkar chalā mushā firmās kiyā vanme. Everything you have to give up, even this body. Off you go. You will be blown by the wind of destiny. No one will go with you. No one will go with you, no one can help you. Only your spiritual work, God's name, your mantra, that is, yes, collect the diamonds in this life. The diamonds of God's name. Each time when you could think about the beauty of God, your mantra, the name of God, that means you took one diamond. Diamond means the richness. This material diamond is richness only in this world, but the spiritual diamond, the name of God, is the richness which will go with you through all lives. Pravé bohatství je v tom, co s námi půjde stále. Do not seed the seeds of sin in your destiny. In your destiny, put the names of God, diamonds of God's names. Don't put the seeds of sin by talking negatively about others. Doing all the negative things, sin. You know, many sins. Bad karma means sin. If you do not believe in karma, then you should not believe in sin. If you believe in sin, then you have to believe in karma. Sat sumaraṇa kar sukaritā saddhā, Satsumaran kar sukarit susādhā. Idar udarka hī jove, Manāre manuṣ tan kī unkhove. Satsumaran kā sukarit soḍā, Satsumaran. Sat means the truth. Sat znamená pravda. And sumaraṇa means repetition of the God's name, the ultimate truth. God is truth. Brahman is the truth. God is the truth. This world is unreality, so make in this world the business. A very fair and good business, that is the name of God. The best and fairest business is in the name of God. Nejlepší poctivý obchod je po žijí menu. Ratan means the jewels. Very expensive, but the jewels of God's name. So the fair business in this life, Mahāprabhujī said, name of God. Why are you looking there and there? Concentrate on your matter. While meditating, you are looking at what others are doing. When they are praying, you are looking at how the others are doing. The Master is talking, and you are thinking, "I know this all." It means you are looking here and there. You are escaping. What power does the jīva have to take the name of Rām? What power does the Jīvā have to turn the mouth of the Thāpkī? What? This jīva has no strength to repeat the name of God. Because karma is so strong, karma gives you sleep on the cheek and turns your face to the other direction. Means temptation, means the temptation, kuśaṅgas. Always you have these vṛttis inside for the kuśaṅga, always desires for different things. This means you are looking here and there, you are escaping yourself, manare manu. Manare, manus tana lakh chaurasi me phirela bhatak to lakh chaurasi me janam janam lagaroi. Manare, manus tana deep nārāyaṇa bhagavān jai. Ye sansār sapana kī māyā. Dekh, Bhool Mann, Mohi Yeh Sansar Sapan Kī Māyā. Dekh, Bhool Mann, Mohi Jaag Jarāyab. This world is just the dream, the māyā of the dream. What was morning is gone. It was like a dream, and now this presents what I am telling you. You see me, you listen to me. Everything, very soon, this will become past. Changing all the times, like you dream and you wake up. This saṁsāra is the māyā of the dream. Tato saṁsāra je māyājo snu. Dek bhule manmai. While looking at this dream, you forget yourself. A když sledujete ten sen, tak zapomínáte sami na sebe. Jag jaraj ab palake ogharo. Little bit wake up. Probuť se. Open your eyelids. Otevři oči. Bhor bhajo ab kaisovi. Now the dawn has risen, why are you sleeping? You are sleeping in the night of ignorance. When the day of wisdom is awakened. The dawn of the divine light is awakened. It means human life. This human life, after a long, cold, dark night, dawn has come. So open your eyes, that means, think of God. Mysli na Boha. Viṣaya vāsanā mṛgya tṛṣṇā pānī pyās kabhu nahī jāve, socha samaj man mahī bavarā, socha mahī bavarā, sat guru caraṇa sidhāve. All the desires which you want to enjoy are like the thirst of the deer. The water. When you drive your car on the road in summer, the sun is shining. One hundred meters far, you see the water on the road, but you can't reach that water. In the desert, the deer is thirsty, and he sees this water, what you call the Fata Morgana, and the deer is running and running. And running to drink the water, he falls down and dies. He can never reach that water, and without reaching that water, he cannot quench his thirst. So, oh man, what do you want to fulfill in this life? Your position, social, political, family, anything, money—it cannot be fulfillment. Be wise enough. Wake up. Visej vashna mirg trasn pani pyaas kabun hijai, the thirst will not quench. No one till today has quenched their thirst of the desires. Soch, samajh, man mayi bhavra, think and understand in your mind. O foolish one, O ignorant one, O mad one, think over and understand. It is very beautiful, and it is hard. It is hard to master. Some dreams are very beautiful, so you don't want to give up these dreams. In the dream, you are enjoying. A very nice eating, let's say nice cherries, and you wake up. You have not even the taste of the cherry on your lips, nothing. Where are these cherries gone? So this life is a dream cherry. So you are eating all dream cherries. A vy všichni se živíte jenom těmi třešněmi ve snu. Again, Mahāprabhujī said, "In this world, rare is the satsaṅg." Let's say one thing now. Come to the reality. Okay? Don't say, "Oh my God, what I lost," sitting like this. Let's say the Czech Republic. How many villages does it have? How many cities? How many towns? And so on. Now, can you tell me, on how many places is today's Satsaṅg? The answer is there. Therefore, satsaṅg is rare. Other activities you can find in each village, different few: six, seven, eight. Therefore, Mahāprabhujī said, there is little opportunity for development. But more opportunity for development, possibilities for destruction. Many ways of destruction are there. In this saṃsāra, satsaṅg is rare. Veda and sviatci všichni objevují velikost a slávu satsaṅg. They are so beautiful words. When you understand the language, you have divine intoxication. The divine satsaṅg, kohe param ānandhe satsaṅg, ko suk param ānandhe. The happiness of the satsaṅg, je svrchovaná blaženost. Trvající, stálá blaženost. A v tom je štěstí satsaṅgu. A co je na tom to nejlepší? Že se stanete nesmrtelní. Amar will not die. Satsaṅg jag meṁ durlabhe, is jag meṁ durlabhe satsaṅg, ved sant sabgave. Satsaṅg ko śuk param ānandhe, ajar amar hojāve. Satguru Sāyab Śrī Deva Purīṣa, satsaṅg yon pharmāve. Satguru Sāyab Śrī Deva Purīṣa, satsaṅg yon pharmāve. Śrī Svāmī Dīpā Sada Sat Mano, Śrī Svāmī Suta Haṁsa Jagāve. Manare Manuṣatāṁ Kho've, Manare Manuṣatāṁ Kī Ho. Lakh Chaurāsī Mein Phir Lā Bhattak To... Janam Janam Lagharove Mahāprabhujī said, "My beloved Gurudev, Śrī Devpurījī, my sad Gurudev, Śrī Devpurījī, like this he is explaining to me the satsaṅg, what satsaṅg means." Śrī Svāmī Dīp Sadhāsatmano, Mahāprabhujī said, understand this always as a truth. Śutta haṁsa jagāve, it is the satsaṅg which can wake up the sleeping swans. And therefore, what a beautiful day, what a beautiful opportunity. How fortunate are we, how precious it is. We have a satsaṅg, we have a sādhanā, we have such a beautiful ashram Gurukul. We are sitting all together. What can be more beautiful than this? I can tell you, even the heavens haven't these things. Don't lock yourself in heaven. Then you can't come out anymore. That will be another burden. There is no more satsaṅg, no kusaṅg, no changes. It is said you are ever young there, but there is nothing to enjoy. Your condition is that bird which is closed in the case. That bird cannot express his or her feelings, only prayers: "When will I be finished by this life to come also out of the case?" Therefore, also... It's against ahimsa to have birds or animals in small cages; let them be free in nature. You see how birds are happy? They fly. And they turn up this side and that side. Oh, and singing, peep, peep,... peep. Oh, and this bird even can't stand the wings. Now, a very small, limited space, a cubic foot only, for the creature which needs 50 kilometers, at least, to take off, fly, and come back. So don't close yourself. Be free. Tomorrow we will continue. Deep Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān, I can tell you one thing: when Gurujī was singing these bhajans with such joy, with such a beautiful voice, such a good melody, and so clearly, every word, it was something beautiful to listen to. While listening to the voice of Gurujī sitting in satsaṅg, I had awakenings. Guruji was giving satsaṅg, but I had a constant awakening of this energy, the kuṇḍalinī, the chakras. Like there is a story about the bee, a kind of wasp. That wasp brings one worm and closes it in the mud house and makes that one wasp too. So when you have oneness, unity with Gurudev, then the words are resonating in you.

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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