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Part 1: The Path of Immortality: Understanding Guru Vākya We continue our discourse on spiritual achievement through yoga in daily life, through the practice of that ancient science. Yoga is a science of body, mind, consciousness, and soul. It is the path to immortality. To achieve immortality from this mortal world is only possible through that divine science of yoga in daily life and by understanding the Guru Vākya. If you do not understand, if you cannot understand, if you are not capable of understanding the Guru Vākya, then you will fail to do the Guru Seva. And if you are not able to do the Guru Seva, you will not have that Mokṣa which is called Mokṣamūlaṁ Guru Kṛpā. Now, what do I mean here by understanding the Guru Vākya? The Guru Vākya means not only my words, what I am telling you, but the words of all the holy and wise, the ṛṣis, sages, and incarnations. What is written in those holy scriptures—these are the Guru Vākyas. We repeat again and again the same Guru Vākya and try to explain it according to the limitation of our buddhi, our intellect, according to our knowledge or our understanding. But the truth is this: if you try to understand one’s word and you cannot find the solution, yet you still try to speak and read about it, try to understand it, it means you have realized that divine word, the divine Guru Vākya, within you. Never give up. Let it become one with you. Follow those principles which are given by the great sages. These vākyas are from Lord Śiva. First in this universe is Sadāśiva, the Swayambhū, Śiva. He is the Lord of Lords, and he is the first one in this universe. All the vidyās, all knowledge and sciences, yoga and meditations and immortalities, are coming from Lord Śiva. Śhivaṁ Satyaṁ Sundaram. So Lord Śiva is speaking the divine science of yoga, the divine science of immortality. This is a dialogue between a master and a disciple, where the master is telling the disciple again and again, "Do not fail in sleep." Here, literally, sleep means ignorance. Sleep means not obeying the Guru Vākya. Sleep means that you try to play a trick and run away. But Śiva is the consciousness of the entire universe. There is not even a single, tiny space without him. He is the knower of everything, and he is everywhere. What you think now, loudly or silently, what you speak now, what you feel now, and what you are doing, what is going on within thyself—the Lord knows everything. That is why he is Antaryāmī. He knows that you are a person who can fall asleep very quickly. This means ignorance, or to try to ignore. And that is why Lord Śiva, in the holy cave of Amarnāthjī, is instructing Pārvatī. Of course, if you wish that I should tell you the science of immortality, the yoga, the Guruvākya, the Guru Gītā, the beautiful and glorious, miraculous līlās of all the ṛṣis and sages—all alone, hearing this, O Pārvatī, you will get that nectar of immortality which will lead you towards immortality. But never let doubts enter your heart, do not let the darkness of ignorance enter your thoughts, and do not let your inner self run away. Be alert, be conscious, be aware, and listen carefully. It is very hard to develop concentration. That is why it is said: after yama, niyama, āsana, and prāṇāyāma, comes pratyāhāra. Pratyāhāra means to withdraw your senses, to withdraw your feelings from those negative qualities and from the restlessness and purpose of this world. It is not easy to control the senses; they are always running away. You are listening to me. At the same time, you are somewhere else, thinking about something. It is not only the case of Pārvatī, but you too. What are you thinking now? I can read in everyone’s face some different movements. Each thought, what you think, creates a movement between the eyebrow center. Each feeling and each thought creates a little movement on your lips or your cheeks. And each doubt, each thought where you lose your concentration, or you are ashamed about something, then your eyelids go down. Or if you are thinking very deeply, your eyelids go down and you concentrate on one spot in front of you. Or if you have no interest, then you open the eyes and look at the windows. Psychologically, face reading. Psychologically, reading the movements of the body. That is a very clear indication that you are absent. You are not present, and that means you are sleeping. You never know which time, which sentence, which word can open the treasure of your heart. You do not know which second you will miss the door of liberation. Therefore, it is not easy for everyone to get this prasād of immortality. But Pārvatī, if you wish, I will deliver this divine science to you, but do not sleep. That means, be alert, be aware, listen to what I am saying. In the beginning, we all said, "Yes, of course, I would like to be immortal. Yes, I want to awaken my Kuṇḍalinī. Oh, I want to have Divya Darśan, divine visions." After five minutes, I do not know if it will be. Man is chanchal hai, this mind is so restless. Man marā na mamatā marī, mar mar gayā śarīr, āśā tṛṣṇā na marī, kah gayad āśā Kabīr. Your mind is not controlled. Man marā means you did not kill your mind. Man maraṅ, mamatā marī. Why could you not control your mind? Because your mamatā, your longing, is not finished. Every second, a different longing, a different feeling. Man maran, mamata mari, marmar gaya sharir. Many, many times this body died, but that mind remains with you. This mind takes you around the whole universe. It does not let you be peaceful there either. Āśā, Tṛṣṇā, Namāri. And there are two things more: Āśā, "I will get, I will get, I want to get." In the German language, they say, "Hoffnung ist eine Wanderstab." From Vigabhis Garab: The hope is a walking stick from the cradle till the grave. It means it still has not been fulfilled. That kind of hope has no solid foundation. Because every time you are hoping for something different, you are thinking a different thing. Āśā, tṛṣṇā, and longing and running behind. It is called burning desires in the heart, Tṛṣṇā. Like a thirsty animal is suffering for the water, a deer, very thirsty, is suffering for the water in the desert. Tṛṣṇā, Mṛg Tṛṣṇā. Mṛg is the deer, and Tṛṣṇā is his thirst. To fulfill the thirst, he sees with the warm air, which humidity comes from the earth on the surface, but you cannot gain anything from this. But you see, there is a beautiful lake, and this deer is running and running, thirsty, tired, desperate, very weak, but still, "I will drink water," running and running. You can never reach that water because there is no water, and that is called Aśā Tṛṣṇā. If you have a wrong imagination, if you have a wrong expectation, you will never fulfill this. And that is why, after so many experiences, after so many trials, after so many births, the words the holy persons, the divine persons, the realized ones, say it. This saṃsāra, saṃsāra, jisme koī sār nahī hai, asāra—there is no sense in this world. Everything is changing, everything is changing. Only what is not changing is your inner one. Hope in the next life to have a better life. I hope in the next life, it will be a better life. I hope tomorrow will be better. I hope in one year it will be better. Ah, I am sure after I get a pension, retirement, ah, I will be happy. Ask those who are pensioners sitting here. Ah, how many? Are you very happy now? Yes, that is it. You are not happy, but you are saying yes. That is not true. How many times are you visiting doctors? How many times do you have to be a babysitter? How many times can you not go there? You know, you are not happy. It is like this. Therefore, because the mind and the senses—the five karmendriyas and the five jñānendriyas—sometimes even the mind is known as the 11th sense. The mind is also counted sometimes as an indriya. Therefore, dhāraṇā, after the withdrawing of the senses, is pratyāhāra. Dharana, concentration. Hardly you can concentrate one second or maximum five seconds. "I do not want to think anything, only one thing." And then you think, "I am not thinking about anything." You are already thinking that you do not think about anything. Already, you are somewhere. Therefore, be alert, be conscious. And Pārvatī said to Lord Śiva, "Yes, Lord, I will do it." And then the Lord renounced many things for the sake of Pārvatī in the beautiful divine keep in Kashmir, Himalaya, the place we call Śrī Amarnāthjī. Śiva begins to expound the divine science of yoga, Gītā, and the glories of many sages and immortality. And he said, "Pārvatī, after each sentence, you should say, ‘Yes.’" And she said, "Yes." She asked, "Why? Do I not disturb you? Or should I keep you awakened, that I must say yes?" That is it. You see how the mind goes opposite to make you, to keep you alert, so that you are not sleeping or you do not miss something. "So I must say yes." He said, "No, no, no. I want to know that you understand, and then you say yes. Do not say yes without understanding." So Pārvatī Jī began to say, "Yes, yes," but sleep came. That means no concentration, means ignorance, means the tamas guṇa, means doubts. Always, the self is mistaken, and she slept. In that minute, it is said there was an egg of a parrot. And inside that parrot’s egg was a baby, and it was thought, "Oh God, it will be a great pity, a great pity, if Lord Śiva stops delivering this divine science of immortality." What to do? And Pārvatī Jī is sleeping. So he hurried up, tried to expand his body, and the egg broke. The baby came and quickly came near Śiva. Śiva was a cosmic body, not a normal physical body, because he had renounced all the elements. Now he is in immortality. And the little baby parrot said, "Yes, yes." And Śiva kept on talking. How many centuries? How many nights and days and years and months? And he said, "Yes." And Pārvatī, she is sleeping. A long sleep, no? That is it. How many years will it take for you to understand? How many years will it take you to wake up? How long will it take for you to understand again, and tell yourself, your mind, your intellect, and your senses? "Now you have learned enough from the outer world, please? After this, so many disappointments and the pain and this, be wise one, sifanimstic." When the Lord finished saying this, he wanted to control, to make sure, if my dear one, Pārvatī, had heard all the wise words of immortality. And he looked to Pārvatī; she was sleeping. And the parrot baby went behind Śiva and flew away. Śiva said, "Did you understand, Pārvatī? Please, what did you say?" Oh God! I think even God has a limitation to lose the nerves, you know. Of course, Śiva had no nerves at that time. He was free from all elements. "You did not listen?" "Sorry, Lord, I slept. I told you a hundred times, how many years from the Kela, still here wandering through the whole Himalayas, and you want it and you want it, and when I am ready to give it to you, you slept." "Sorry, Sir." "But you were constantly saying to me, ‘Yes.’" If she had said yes, then he would have given some explanation. But, of course, she was very honest, Pārvatī. She said, "I am sorry, I did not say yes to you." "Maybe, psychologically, you were listening to me, yes." Look, again, she is giving the lesson to Śiva. "It is your imagination, Lord, that you were thinking I am saying, ‘Yes, yes.’ This became an ajap-ajap for you." The Lord said, "No, who was it?" And then the baby parrot said, "Praṇām, my lord, I was it," and flew away. It is said Lord Śiva ran behind him, took his trīśūla to kill the parrot baby. Because he took this immortality, and it will be a traffic jam on the highway of the Caurāsī Cakra. Rebirth and death. Through the caves, through the mountains, through the entire universe, both are making journeys. Sometimes the disciple is behind the master, and sometimes the master is behind the disciple. It is said that the great sage, Ved Vyāsa Jī, the Trikāla Darśī, the Ved Vyāsa Jī who dictated and wrote the Vedas, created the first manuscript or first literature that exists for humanity. Ved Vyāsi went for vihār, for a little walk in the forest. And they were living somewhere in a beautiful small hut and cave. And the wife of Ved Vyāsa, she was waiting all afternoon till her husband came back. Waiting and waiting, with a big expectation. Door of my heart, open wide I keep for thee. Door of my heart, open wide I keep for thee. Will thou come, will thou come, just for once, come to me. My days fly without seeing thee, my days fly night and day, night and day. I look for thee night and day, look for thee night and day. Will thou come? Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya, Devīśvara Mahādeva Kī Jaya. What does this song indicate? Longing for the beloved one. But a very important part in this song is belonging to this beautiful, glorious story of Śiva and Pārvatī. "Night and day I look for thee." Night means ignorance. "That I am not sleeping, I am aware." There is no ignorance. And day... means knowledge. So, in night and in day, I am alert about Thee, O my Lord. I have not closed the door of my feelings. That is it. As soon as you close the door of your feelings, then it is locked. And when it is locked, you lose the key. Or, you lose the number, the combination number. Like you play the lotto, and it has many, many numbers. So, how many years have you been playing, but the numbers are different. So when you close your feelings, when you close your devotion, when you close your longing for the wisdom, then again you miss it. So the wife of Ved Vyāsa Jī was sitting and waiting and waiting. Part 2: The Divine Journey: From Parrot to Sage This body, composed of the three guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—traverses the three states of consciousness: suṣupti (deep sleep), svapna (dreaming), and jāgrat (waking). This physical machine becomes weary. While waiting, she grew tired. Sleep began to overtake her, though she resisted it. She opened her mouth wide in a yawn. A parrot, seeing this, thought there was no safer place in the universe than to enter her mouth. So, as Śiva was pursuing it, the baby parrot exclaimed, "Hurry, Oṁ!" and, having found God in that sacred syllable, flew inside. Śiva ran after it but then stopped. In that moment, Ved Vyāsa arrived. He saw Lord Śiva standing there and, on the other side, saw his own wife waiting. Ved Vyāsa said, "Oh Lord, what a great privilege for me that you have come to my humble hut. Bless me. I am blessed forever by your darśana here. I would have come to you; you needed only to send me a thought." Śiva said to Vedavyāsa, "Vedavyāsa, my thief is hidden in your house. The one who stole from me is concealed here." Vedavyāsa replied, "It is not in my house. Look into my heart; no one is here." But his wife said, "I think some bird has entered my stomach." Realizing what had transpired, she said to Śiva, "As you wish, my Lord, do what you must. But you know, to kill a woman is the greatest sin, especially one who is pregnant—be she mother, human, or animal." Śiva said, "I know that," and departed. Inside, the baby parrot breathed deeply. "I have received the knowledge of immortality," it thought. "I no longer wish to enter this world." So the baby remained for a long, long time, refusing to be born. Of course, the mother suffered, her body expanding and expanding, but the soul within did not want to emerge. Ved Vyāsa then went to Brahmā, the creator. Brahmā said, "We shall go to Viṣṇu. Only Viṣṇu can do something now, for Śiva will not act; he is angry." So you see, God can be angry too. The three—Vedavyāsajī, Brahmājī, and Viṣṇujī—returned and pleaded with the embryo: "Please come out." It refused: "No, I will not enter this world. It is only prapañca (worldly expansion) and māyā, moha (delusion), and ignorance. I do not wish to fall into attachment again, which will once more become the cause of my death." Brahmā conferred with Viṣṇu. "For some time," they decided, "we shall remove this moha from the world. Let all become nirmohī (free from attachment), like that nirmohī king who demonstrated what it truly means." They are not so far from us. So, through his divine power, Brahmā worked a miracle so that all became without attachment, without moha. Then the baby was born, and they named him Śukadeva Muni—Śuka meaning 'parrot'. After some time, however, moha again entered Śukadeva Muni. It is everywhere. He became deeply disappointed and, not wanting to remain in this world, went into the forest. He was a very young child. Can you imagine a small child walking alone toward the forest? His parents did their best, but nothing helped. He was filled with vairāgya (dispassion), longing, searching, and uparati (cessation of worldly pursuits). Finally, Ved Vyāsajī taught him and explained that he needed a master. "Without Gurudev, that immortality will not return to you. It lies many miles behind, for you are now in the next life. Go and search for an ātmā jñānī master." And who could this be? Janaka, the king, father of Sītā. King Janaka was known as Videhi—one who lives in the physical body yet is completely liberated, free from moha, attachment, rāga (attraction), dveṣa (aversion), kāma (desire), krodha (anger), ahaṅkāra (ego), and also from fear (bhaya). It was a difficult time for Śukadeva Muni to approach King Janaka. When Janaka received the message that a young boy had come to meet him, he had him wait outside the room for a week, to see if he was a true disciple or would leave. After a week, he was allowed into the first reception room, where he sat for days without departing. Next, he was brought into a beautiful salon, a dance hall, given the finest food, and surrounded by dancing boys and girls, to see if he would succumb to temptation. But Śukadeva Muni remained one with his divine Self. Then Janaka said, "Alright, now bring him to me." The king sat upon his royal throne, surrounded by his court, queen, and attendants. Śukadeva Muni entered and prostrated. The king said, "First, go and eat. You must be very hungry after so many days." They led him to where he was to sit and eat. His āsana was placed directly beneath a sword hanging from the ceiling by a very thin thread, its point aimed at his Sahasrāra Cakra. At any moment, it could break and fall. He saw this, and then they served him a delicious meal. He ate, and afterward returned to King Janaka. Before eating, he had said, "King Janaka, I do not understand you. Look, we are sitting surrounded by so many girls, ladies, and boys. This is all māyā. I renounced this at home, yet I see the same here." Janaka had simply replied, "Go and eat first." Now, after lunch, the king smiled and asked, "How did you like the food? Was it delicious?" Śukadeva said, "Yes, but to be frank, I could not enjoy its taste." "Why?" "Because of the sword. I was so fearful, not knowing when it would fall on me. I ate, but did not realize the taste." Janaka said, "That is the answer to your first question. You came and said, 'King, you are with all this māyā.' I am not aware of all that. I am aware of only one thing: Kāla, death. At any time, that sword may fall. Constantly, I am aware of this. No worldly test enters my senses. I am constantly thinking of that." Śukadeva Muni received a beautiful lesson. There is a great and profound dialogue between King Janaka and Śukadeva. Afterward, Śukadeva Muni went forth and began to preach, sharing as much as he could remember of the immortal words spoken by Lord Śiva in the Amarnāthjī cave. This is described in various ways by different sages. Many ṛṣis came to know of this knowledge. They invited Śukadevajī, and he began to preach. In India, we have two very important traditions. First, the holy seat from which a speaker, a preacher, a spiritual teacher sits and expounds upon scripture. That seat is called the Vyāsa Gaḍī, the holy throne of Vyāsa, one who can speak beautifully and inspire you. A Brahma-niṣṭha-śrotriya is considered an incarnation of Śukadeva Muni. Only Śukadeva can truly speak thus, for he was the witness to Lord Śiva preaching the science of immortality to Pārvatī—and Pārvatī fell asleep. After that, Śiva returned and sat in meditation for many, many years, silent. Pārvatī merely attended to routine tasks. There were two pigeons (Tauben) who sat nearby, constantly cooing. Śiva, who had already been interrupted, said, "I have had enough of this," and told them, "You will be silent forever." And these two pigeons are still there. You may not believe it, but when you see, you will believe. In that holy cave, a pair of pigeons lives. Sometimes you can see them, sometimes not. This time when I went, I asked the security guards, "I have heard there are pigeons here." He began explaining to me about the Śeṣanāga, Gaṇeśjī, the Pāṇḍavas, Pārvatī, the rivers, and so on. "Swāmījī," he said, "it is beautiful; you need time to study all this." "Yes," I said, "but are there two pigeons?" "Could be in the cave, sometimes." I looked, and yes, I saw them too, sitting about ten to fifteen meters away. I do not know how it happens. The cave is shaped thus, with a little green grass. One was sitting there, and one was on the cave wall. There were many stones there. We entered the cave. It is not very deep; it is like a nice roof, like an open theater roof, with a beautiful view of the mountains and valley. Every year, there is a period of two months for darśana of the Śivaliṅgam formed by melting ice. I told them, "I have enough ice in Austria. In Europe, we have a lot every year, so I am not going to see the ice. I am going to see the holy cave, and for me, the Śivaliṅgam and Śiva are there." We went to offer praṇāma. Some who are sitting here were with me as witnesses. The main priests of the holy cave gave me a shawl, a garland; they had prepared five shawls because they had heard I was coming. One received our Muktāmaṇī, I think, yes, and one our Turyānand. Who else was there? Śānti, Dr. Śānti, and who was the other? Narabda, Hanuman Puri, Dr. Śānti, and me, and some others. Then I sat and meditated. I offered garlands, first dedicated to Amarnāthjī, then to Alakhpurījī, then Devpurījī, then Mahāprabhujī, then Gurujī. While thinking of all of you, I sent this divine radiance from the divine key of Amarājī for all of you, like the internet, sending these divine rays throughout the world. What happened? Both pigeons flew and came to sit about ten meters in front of me. After meditation, when I rose, the chief priest and the security guards said, "Swāmījī, please, can you offer some blessing words, a satsaṅg?" There were many, many Indian pilgrims there, also waiting. So it was my first satsaṅg in this life, in that divine cave. And what I noticed was that both pigeons flew and sat directly in front of me, their heads inclined like this, listening and looking at me. Turyānand made a video; you can see them. Afterward, we left, and a few steps down, there was a chair. I sat on it as people brought my shoes. The pigeons flew over me, circled completely, and then flew out of the cave. Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī, Amarṇājī Bhagavān Kī, Deveśvara Mahādeva Kī. It is an indescribably divine place. The walk is about fourteen kilometers over little hills, up and down—no more difficult than a steep climb in Vienna. Many people walk it, but we were in a hurry, so we took a helicopter. Many Indians walk there, have darśana for an hour, and walk back by afternoon. Even though they are not trained, lack good physical condition like you, and are not all yoga practitioners, they manage to walk there and back. It is more than 4,000 meters above sea level. Next time, if we go, we shall organize again, and it will be joyful if you walk. It is divine. What is life? Life is not given only to walk to nightclubs. There is also little oxygen, you know. But life is also given to go to holy places. These legs are given to walk toward God. These legs are given to walk into satsaṅg, not into kusaṅg (bad company). Nayana diya darśana karane ko sarvānāma diya śuna gyānare, hātha diya kara dānare, Kabīra Dājī kā bhajana: How you can make your body a temple of God. If you remember, in December, Mr. Gulābjī Koṭārī of Rāṣṭra Patrikā said: When you go on pilgrimage, no matter where, the more you walk while being aware of that holy place, the more your consciousness, your bhāva, becomes one with the divine—with Śiva. It does not matter how many you are; you become united as one. If you have ego and selfishness, you will feel separate, jealous, and greedy. "Why am I going? What will he give me? Walking slowly... I don't know, maybe I'll get immortality there? It was millions of years ago when Śiva was there. Now nobody is there. But I paid for the airplane and all this. I must go and see how it is." Then you are lost in an ocean of doubts, in a jungle of doubts and thorny bushes. But as soon as you develop love, the bhāva for God, you remain in that divine bhāva. Then you are not existing; it is He who exists within you. If someone loves you and constantly thinks of you, that person is not really there; you are there. Once, Graf Hoyos said, according to his theory, that actually in men exist more women, and in women exist still more men, because men are constantly thinking about women, and women think about them from time to time. So, the one about whom you think is within you. Therefore, it is said: "Sumaran Karale Mere Mana, Teri Bitti Umar Hari Nāma Binā." Holy Gurujī said: "He Bhajore Manva Śrī Prabhudī Padhāya, He Bhajore Manva Śrī Prabhudī." Ar Brahma Pur Sotam Swami Karate. And so, when Lord Śiva had departed, Ved Vyāsa asked his wife, "How did a parrot fly into your body? How did it enter?" She said, "I was doing like this." He said, "Never do like that. Always, when you do like this, hold your hand here." And since that time, we, as civilized persons, when we yawn, do it like this, so that no stranger may enter.