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Achievment ends all struggling

A spiritual discourse on maintaining discipline and seeking grace in one's practice.

"Your spiritual journey from the beginning day till now is a process. As soon as there is a lack of discipline, the process suffers."

"Therefore, coming together, having satsaṅg together, having darśan—you can't compare it with anything."

Swami Ji addresses practitioners, using the analogy of a fruit's uninterrupted growth to describe the spiritual journey. He emphasizes the critical necessities of detachment (vairāgya), perseverance (titikṣā), and devotion (bhakti), warning against the corrosive effects of bad company and laxity. He stresses the irreplaceable value of the Guru's darśan (sight/grace) and communal satsaṅg for inspiration, concluding with practical advice for daily resolve and study.

Filming location: Vép, HU.

DVD 388

Śrīddhi Prāṇāyāma Bhagavānakī, Dev Purīśama Devakī, Mādhava Kṛṣṇa Bhagavānakī. Many of us are at a certain point in our spiritual journey, and it is a very interesting point from which to observe ourselves and others. The question is one of achievement, not the way or the path. Where there is achievement, there is no way. When you come to the achievement, then all struggling and all different paths end. It is said that for our achievements, we need continuity. Consider the many fruits here. Some fruits are from your own garden. You observe this fruit tree from April, May onward. You see how it blossoms, how a small fruit comes and gets bigger and bigger, until it ripens and you pluck it. There is a difference between the ripe fruit and just the beginning of the blossom. What was very important was the process, the development from the beginning until the end. If there were some kind of interruption—no rain, no water, a damaged branch, or damage from insects—you would not see the process going on within the fruit. Day and night, very rapidly, not slowly, you have a fruit after a few months containing all kinds of nutrition. What a wonder of nature. Similarly, your spiritual journey from the beginning day till now is a process. As soon as there is a lack of discipline, the process suffers. When there is a lack of water—which means devotion—the process suffers. Or, due to the influence of kuṣaṅga (bad company), the process suffers. That fruit can be spoiled prematurely. Just one wasp comes and stings it, and the whole apple is spoiled. Though the sting is very small, similarly, maybe it is a very little thought from kuṣaṅga, and you can lose everything. It doesn't matter which kind of life you lead—family life or no family life, working, retired, a student. These are the phases of life. But the process should continue, and that needs, first of all, vairāgya (detachment). If there is no vairāgya, your fruit will not be healthy. Many things have to be renounced; many things have to be adopted. Vairāgya needs titikṣā, and titikṣā here means to stand through, like a fruit hanging on the tree and facing all kinds of situations: weather, storms, rains. We have to understand and face different situations in life. And bhakti. Bhakti means that what you have decided is final for you, and all your being belongs to that point. It enters your being—physical, emotional, intellectual, everything. You stand through all situations because you have the power of bhakti. And when there is a little doubt in it, you are lost. These things are not easy, and that's why many begin and then they stop. People think it's not important to go to a seminar. "I'm practicing at home, I'm thinking of Swāmījī." That is not enough. Sorry for them. They are falling out. They will not come through, and many of you still will fall out. But if you will do your sādhanā, your practice, consciously, you will come through. That's why Mahāprabhujī said in Vajan, "Gurudev darśan dhan ho." Darśan is very important. You never know when, or what kind of darśan you will get, and you don't know what you get. Darśan is like rain for thirsty plants. Our Guru said, "Even if you don't speak and you have no time, just half a minute of darśan is enough. It makes the garden green again." So when we were traveling, in every village, everywhere, even stopping half a minute, Gurujī stopped his car. And Gurujī said, you know, the garden will be green. The garden will be blossoming. That's darśan. And if you will just pass by and a bhakta will see you and you don't stop, they will suffer. Therefore, coming together, having satsaṅg together, having darśan—you can't compare it with anything. Many think, "No, Swāmījī will speak the same thing, and the same meditation and āsanas we can do at home." This is something which is talking in you, your enemy. Every morning when you get up, first you should ask Mahāprabhujī for darśan. "Lord, my day should be full of your darśan. Lead my steps toward you." Second, mentally think three times, "Śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ (peace, peace, peace)." And "Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ"—all should be happy. So never think that you know many things. What you know is just nothing, and I agree with that philosopher who was a very great writer, a great philosopher. European philosophy is based on his philosophy. But at the end, he says, "I know that I don't know." When Holī Gurujī came to Europe, people asked if Gurujī would like to go for sightseeing. Gurujī said, "I don't see the side, I see the straight." And he said, "I have seen many things, but I want to see that which I really want to see: Ātmā, God, Mahāprabhujī." And so it doesn't matter how much you know; be sure it's just nothing. A spirit, a seeker, is constantly seeking to come forward. The body's situation is changing, the mind is changing, soon life will end. But what did you realize? That's our aim. Therefore, I am sorry for many people; they stop out of laziness, selfishness, greediness, and ignorance. Things are not necessary. And never think that you don't have money. If you don't have money, it doesn't matter, just come. It is not based on money. Because of money, don't miss the programs. But work, then you will have money. You can work as a karma yogī and be here, have darśan. So we are on a very critical point now. You lost your intuition, inner feelings of practice, and many things happen which should not happen. You don't like that it happens physically, mentally, and spiritually. But the cause is within you. You stopped practice. There is no one to be blamed. If your yoga teacher is good or not, if your yoga teacher is angry and you stop practicing, it is a pity for you. If you stop practicing, your yoga teacher doesn't lose anything. And if you practice, he or she doesn't gain anything. It is exclusively, only and only, for you. For your entire being, your every feeling, every thought, every step is exclusively only for you, and you can do it. You can realize. You can get ātma-jñāna, if you want. So, inwardly, wake up. Our seminars are not only for practicing āsanās and prāṇāyāmas. We can do āsanās, prāṇāyāmas now, no problem. And you have to do it every day, but here is more inspiration, learning, darśan, which you can't compare with anything. All the times you are meditating, practicing mantra, are to have a darśan. And when there is an opportunity to have a darśan, you just disappear. So again, make your saṅkalpa today that you will begin with yoga, and then life. Don't neglect, don't be careless. You know, it is said that crows like to eat grapes very much. But when the grapes ripen, when the grapes ripen, the crow gets a disease in the throat. They can't eat; they are allergic. It means bad luck for the crow. And so is that. All the times, you want to see, and then a seminar comes, and then some excuse comes in. In every center, you should have a satsaṅg. It doesn't matter which town or which village. Read one or two chapters of Mahāprabhujī's Līlāmṛta. Learn out of it, or read one, two stories, or the chapter of the meeting with the yogī, or selected pearls. And then make manana. Manana means to overthink, to make thoughts, try to understand, to understand the essence. You have to think over very much. Like when you are walking in the street and, without any reason, someone calls you stupid. The whole day you will think, "Why did he call me stupid?" You come home and tell your wife, "Someone told me I'm stupid." And then in the morning, you are shaving, you are looking in the mirror, and again you remember, he said to me, "I'm stupid." Why? Similarly, you should also think about spiritual words, the Guruvākyas, until you find the truth in them.

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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