TV Channel

Part 1: The Essence of a Devotee's Expectation What a bhakta, a devotee, is expecting—what is the best and most precious thing in life? Anything that comes from the Gurudev. It is said that even when the wind is blowing and Gurudev is standing at a far distance, you should stand in the direction from which the wind is blowing. So that wind brings that energy, and that energy touches your body and your soul. Also, through the visions, darśan, you get awakening within you; that energy, that ābhāmaṇḍal, changes all negative waves within you into positive waves. It is said, believed, accepted, explained, and adored that even the dust of the holy saint’s feet, where one steps, becomes holy. There is a small story about an elephant. There was a beautiful lake, very clean with crystal clear water. If you have not seen such a clear lake, I invite you all to come to Austria. In Carinthia, there is a lake called Wörthersee, the White Lake. There, when you look in the water, even three meters deep, you can see the stones and everything very clearly. That is clear water. Or many, many lakes in the Himalayas and in many other places, of course. The elephant went for a bath. An elephant’s bathing is very special. He takes water with his trunk and makes a shower. The shower system in our bathroom is originally an imitation of the elephant’s bathing. Many now are making the handle for showering in the form of an elephant trunk. The elephant was swimming. He dived deep in the water and came out, drinking and cleaning. Such a big, heavy body—it is not easy to keep in the air. Only in the water can it be lifted; there it can expand. Water, Jal. Jalaṃ Jagan Nivāsaḥ—where there is water, there is God. Jagadīśa: Jag means the Saṃsāra, Īśa means the Īśvara, the Lord of this world. God is there where the water is. Therefore, it is said water is life, Buddha, Jīvat. And this life, this jīva, is the reflection of that Jagadīśa, the Lord himself. The five elements on this planet are life. And where the five elements manifest in life, there is God. Manifestation means creation. So every element is very important; never underestimate the elements. Humans have no power to fight against the elements. Only rare saints can do so. In the old times, during the era of the Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata, they developed a kind of weapon. These weapons had mantra power. It was only a small arrow, half a meter or maximum one meter. But they would say the mantras, then shoot the arrow. According to the mantras, everything would happen. They could create a storm, an earthquake, a fire, or a flood. When God Rāma wanted to go to Śrī Laṅkā—you know the story in the Rāmāyaṇa—there is an ocean between Śrī Laṅkā and India. How to cross the ocean with all of Rāma’s army? His army consisted of monkeys, bears, and different creatures. God Rāma asked the ocean to give way, and Sāgara, the ocean, did not want to give way. Finally, Rāma said, "Please, I ask you, show the way." But the ego of the ocean was too big. When the Lord said, "Please," then Rāma took his arrow, concentrated, and said a mantra into that arrow to dry the ocean. Within no time, the ocean would be dried up. Then the god of the ocean, the water, came out and said, "Please, please, Lord Rāma, I am in your seva." Sometimes the Gurudev has to be strict—Rajas Guṇa. We have to show the Rājas Guṇa also, not only say, "Yes, dear Bhakta, you are right." No, you are not right—get out, finished. And then they say, "Oh, Gurudev, I come." No. These are the balancing principles. Too much Sāttvika Guṇa, you need Rājasika Guṇa. Too much Rajas Guṇa, you need Tamas Guṇa to balance your life. If Tamas Guṇa is bad, why did God create Tamas Guṇa? If the quality of rajas is not good, why did God create the quality of rajas? So every guṇa, everything, has its meaning. But Guru Vākya—when God decided and said he will not take back, what will he do? The mantra is there, the power is there in the universe; everything is storm. Then the ocean god said, "Please, Lord, shoot this arrow in the direction from the ocean side to the north." There was a Rākṣasa named Maru, and Rāma killed that Rākṣasa. Because it is said where this arrow will fall, the earth will become a desert. It will be a desert, finished—either the ocean or where it will go. So it is said, Marudhārā. Marudhārā means the desert. All that desert—the Middle East and Rajasthan—is called Marudhārā, and it is from God Rāma’s arrow. That is what we call, from that time, now developing the atom bombs. Everyone is afraid of the atom bomb. Where the atom bomb will fall will be a desert. Therefore, do not awaken the tamas guṇa in Gurudev. When the tamas guṇa comes, then everything flies away. Well, the ocean gave the way. And Hanumānjī wrote the name "Rām" on a stone and threw it into the ocean. The ocean did not let the stone go down; it was floating like a sponge, like rubber, like wood. And so God Rāma, in order to cross the ocean, made a beautiful bridge between India and Sri Lanka. Now, through satellite, they saw there is a connection. They thought it was a rock, an island. They searched and said it is not nature-made; it is man-made. That is the truth. But now, unfortunately, the Indian government wants to destroy that bridge because they want to make international transportation by sea. Can you imagine? Many Hindus are very against it and are fighting for it, but the government said, "No, we will do it." I heard that they went—the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi—they bought a big driller, a destroying driller, which is very expensive, and they began to drill down under the water, and the driller broke. They got a second one; it broke. They got a third one; it broke. Bhoṣyavā Rāmacandra Bhagavānakī—but they decided to do it. The power, the government which is in power. So, while it is coming to my mind, would you accept, for the sake of the ancient heritage of mankind on this planet not to be destroyed or damaged, to collect signatures? To protect it—its name is called Rāma Setu. Rāma Setu means the bridge of Rāma. And they call the tunnel they want to make an Adam tunnel. They brought Adam inside, beside Rāma. So, would you be kind and ready to collect signatures from your friends? Very good. Thank you. We have to collect signatures to send to the President of India and to UNESCO. Will you make two copies and make them available to me? With your friends, your children, and everyone different who would like to do it? Of course, we do not want to force anyone. But you have to explain why it is important. It was not in my mind. I do not know why I am telling you this, but it is the divine will. I was talking about spiritual festivals, spiritual awakening; that was a spiritual festival. When stones, rocks, can float on the water, what can be more miraculous than this? And still, there are those rocks lying there which have "Rām" written on them. Some of the communist parties in India said there was no Rāma incarnation. Like many said there was no Jesus. So, who said there was no Jesus? How do you know? You are today’s child, and that was 2000 years ago. Rāma was 10,000 years ago. In the whole world, Rāma is adored. Especially when you go to the Far East—Bali, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, China—everywhere the Rāmlīlās are played. Indonesia’s airline is named after God Rāma’s chariot, you know, what is it called? Garuḍa, the eagle, the eagle of God Rāma. Therefore, I think this bridge is not a heritage of Hindus. 10,000 years ago, there was no word Hindu. There was no word Christian. There was no word Buddhist or Islam. There was only one word, Sanātana Dharma, around the whole world. It does not matter. Now many religions have developed. Why not? Very good. But this heritage belongs to all humans and to this planet. It is not a heritage of only the Hindus or Hindu culture. Because who was before you? You were also, all the ancestors were the Hindus. So please, all who are listening on the internet, develop one form. We write a little about this bridge. If you can collect signatures and make them available to me before the end of this year, and continue until next January, and so on. Thank you very much. So, the happiness of that water—the elephant was swimming. With his trunk, he finally had time to clean himself everywhere. In the water, he could bend a little bit. Elephant bath. Surprisingly, the dirt of the elephant’s body does not make the water dirty. Any animal goes in the water and comes out; the water does not begin to smell, except with pigs and some dogs. But when a human goes in the water and comes out, it is aroma. Which kind of aroma? Human aroma, where even the fish run away. So unfortunately, there are very few elephants remaining. And when there are elephants, then unfortunately there is very little water remaining in the lakes. Water is a big question for us. The elephant came out, washed nicely. He cleaned his ears and also took the water. Then he makes his shower like this. The whole body is nice, very fresh, clean, like a washed elephant. Now he went back to his jungle, but on the way he did something, and that is the essence of the story. You should bow down to make everything, not with your feet; it is your master’s pictures. You cannot play with your master’s picture with your foot. Consciousness is still down, not in the Ājñā Chakra. Yes, many things I have to teach you, many things still. What the elephant did: he took the dust from the roads, mud, and threw it on his body, everywhere. People like us were saying, "What a stupid elephant." After such a nice, clean bath, he throws dust on his body. So there was some person like Mokṣānanda called the loose consciousness. The elephant is losing consciousness. Why is the elephant throwing dust on his body after such a bath? Because of the mosquitoes, flies? The elephant is known to have thick skin, and mosquitoes do not disturb him at all because his skin is so thick and dry, and the mosquito’s injection is so small, so there is no effect. Then why? A few people decided to go to the elephant and said, "Why are you throwing the dust on your body again, making it dirty after such a nice bath?" The elephant said, "Rājdev." The elephant said, "My dear brothers, I have one expectation, one hope: maybe some holy saint walked on this path, and that is his, the dust, holy dust of his holy feet. If it goes on my mastaka, on my head, I will get liberation. That is my expectation. That is why I am throwing the sand. I am searching for the holy dust of the sand spa." The great philosopher Albert Schweitzer said the time will come that humans will wonder and think that a person like Gandhi walked on this earth. Einstein has said that, no? True or not? And that is a person who has to think that this is holy earth, this planet, where holy saints walked, where God himself walked on this planet. What do you think about this planet? We are the luckiest ones, that we could come on this planet, live on this planet, develop on this planet, and on the lap of this Mother Holy Earth. This is who can understand. Nothing is more valuable—diamond and nothing. It is said: "Nāhīṃ māṅgū bhog svarga kā, icchā nahīṃ dhan-dvārā kī." Neither do I have a desire for money and house and all this. "Nāhīṃ māṅgū," I do not ask for the kingdom of the entire universe, nor do I ask for the pleasure and wealth of the whole earth. Even the whole earth belongs to me—that is nothing; it is zero. Lord, even I do not ask for mokṣa, mukti, because mukti is a servant of the Gurudev’s feet. And I want that holy dust of Gurudev’s feet. This consciousness awakening in the disciple is called a holy festival. That awakens the holy consciousness. So the holy festival immediately awakens the divine consciousness in you. Otherwise, you will not accept it; you will just throw it away. How? You walk on the way and find a piece of glass. You take it and throw it in the dustbin because it is glass; somebody will get hurt. Another one was coming and searching: "I lost my diamond. Did you see it somewhere?" "I just threw it in the dustbin." "Oh God, which dustbin, please?" That was an expensive diamond. From the dust and garbage, that diamond was found. Why did one throw the diamond in the garbage? Because one did not know it is a diamond. And why would one pick up from the dirty garbage everything but the diamond? Because he knew the value of the diamond. So, it does not matter what happens, how it happens, or how it is. If you know the value of the Gurudev and the divine power, then for you everything is divine, everything is holy. If you do not know this, then everything is disturbing you. Even if you do not want to see it, you will throw it into the garbage because it is a piece of glass. So awakening, spiritual awakening in our consciousness, needs some event, a holy event, needs some kind of happening. One man did not believe at all in God and also did not believe in the Gurudev so much, just a little bit. They were two or three friends, bodybuilders, but somehow they were disciples of mine. They respected Swamījī, that is all. When Swamījī looked, they said. And when Swamījī was not there, they were going like this. So they had respect, but not so much, no believing in God and so on. One day, an accident happened. The car was rolling like a football. Inside the car they said, "Guru Dev, Dīpa Nirañjana, Śabaduka Banjāna, Moi Swamījī, Proṣi." The car was nearly 50 meters far away from the road, and then it came to some point, hanging on the bridge like a scale. These three bodybuilder boys walked out, and they made their coat like this and said, "Are we dreaming? Are you okay?" Nothing happened, but something very big happened. All three of them became great bhaktas. "We believe in you, God. We believe in God." Since that time, these young men, or the boys, said nothing is the most important thing in their life—neither wife, nor husband, nor money, nor house—but only God and Swamījī, whom Mahāprabhujī protected. So, something has to happen in your life. And then the awakening will take place. Something happens; for a while you are okay, and then again you say, "Hmm, there are hundreds of people dying every day, why does he not help them?" Again, the negative clouds come. Then again, something will happen. So, a spiritual festival—does not matter if it is Christmas, Good Friday, Holī or Dīvālī, Rakṣābandhan or anything—should awake in you a divine consciousness. And you have to learn to know the value of this. Last year, on the day of Mahāprabhujī’s Mahāsamādhi day, one elderly lady came to me. She is about 78 years old. Her whole family, from her parents’ side, three or four generations, they are devotees of Mahāprabhujī. A very great devotee. In their house, there was nothing except Mahāprabhujī: Devpurījī, Mahāprabhujī, Gurujī—our spiritual holy lineage. Our spiritual holy lineage: Oṃ Śrī Alakhpurījī, Siddha Pīṭha Paramparā. You can write it down if you do not remember. You should write; you should know. We were sitting about 11 o’clock after lectures and satsaṅg. Many people made praṇāms and were going to eat. That lady was sitting beside me, and she was crying. She said, "Swamījī, the entire wealth and happiness of my life—I want to give you something. I did not find anyone worthy of that." I said, "Oh God, again somebody wants to give me a piece of land or something to make an ashram." I have had enough of the ashrams. Part 2: The Gift of a Nail and the Essence of True Giving I said, "Well, as you think, as you like." She replied, "I know my family, my children, my husband—they are all very good." Of course, they are devoted and everything, but still, she felt they did not have the feeling or value for a certain thing. I asked, "What is that?" She took the corner of her saree, where something was tied in a knot. She opened it and took out a piece of paper, which she gave to me. Both her folded hands were trembling, and her tears were falling—not one or two, but like a stream. She said, "This is the Nakamaṇī of Mahāprabhujī, the right-toed nail of Mahāprabhujī, which she had preserved for many, many years." Every day, every year, the first thing she would do was dip this nail in water and then drink that water. Now, she was growing old and did not know who would take care of it or who would value it as she did. After years of contemplation, she decided, "I give it to you, Swāmījī. I find you the worthy one." Can you imagine the happiness of my life? I received the wealth of the entire universe with this small nail of Mahāprabhujī. That was an awakening. That was awakening. There was love. Without love, you cannot give. If you give something without love, you are merely demonstrating your love—you play the drums, saying, "I gave, I gave." But what did you give? A burden. If you give without love, you give a burden. If you give with love, you do not count it at all. Understand? Even if you give a kiss on the cheek to your wife and say, "Darling, I love you," that is with love. Then your wife will wake up; otherwise, she will not. She will say, "Yes." Ladies like this. Ladies like to give this to their husbands. So, dear brothers and sisters, we should know the values. Without values, we have no healing. When you act with love and divine consciousness, nothing is dirty. If you act without love and divine consciousness, everything is unpleasant and dirty. The question is, do you understand holy events? Yes, if you understand what Christmas means, then your Christmas presents to someone have value. If you do it only as a social obligation—because it is Christmas time and everyone is giving something—then this spiritual event's presence has no material value. Its value is devotion, love, God's love: to forgive and forget any mistakes that happened between each other, to cleanse and become best friends again. The uniting bridge between two is that love. Now, when I talk about love, do not think about sex. Very few people immediately think of different things; more different chakras become active. Why are chakras there? To be active. If chakras are not active, then there are no chakras. But the biggest chakra is the heart. This heart chakra is universal love: love of mother, father, son, daughter, wife, husband, dog, cat, horse, cow, buffalo, tiger, and the little ant. It is God's love. When everything is suffused with the color of God's love, it becomes a beautiful, perfect color. That is bhakti. Spiritual festivals and events—be it the birthday of a great saint, their samādhi day, or the visit of a great saint—are celebrated by many. People say that once a holy person came on a certain day, and every year they have a melā, a gathering like the Kumbha Melā, on that occasion for happiness. At that time, when humans remember, things awaken again. There is one river and festival near Nepal, about fifty kilometers away. Even if it is a dry desert with no rain for years, on that particular day—because they believe a holy saint once came when people had nothing to drink, and he dug a little hole in the riverbed and water appeared—on this day, there is a big melā. No one carries water; they just make a little hole, and water is there. The next day, you can dig fifty meters and find nothing. Do you know the miracles? Do you know the greatness of the saints? Therefore, it is said: if you adore them, pray to them, and speak highly of them, their spiritual energy and quality will come to you. If you speak negatively and badly, then all that happened through their body and worldly consciousness—all bad things, those karmas—will go to you. Because someone must take my dirt, too. Yes, there is a lot of pollution flowing; I am also polluted. So when you touch me, you take it. When you talk badly about Swāmījī, then Swāmījī's five kilos of dirt goes to you. Thank you very much. And you know why? Because all these people are thinking of me and giving their problems and sufferings to me. If I am the master, I have to take it. Even if I do not want to, I have to take it now. That is the problem. You are a soldier; even if you do not want to fight, you are on the battlefield, so fight or die. To be a master is not easy, but to be a disciple is also most difficult. When we pray to Mahāprabhujī and offer a flower on the altar, does he want a flower? Does he want chocolate? No. What is this flower? This flower is your problem, your ambition, your love, your devotion. You gave it to him. If I think, "Does he need it? What does he need the flower for?" then the negative energy from the flower comes to me. If you think, "Oh my God, I should also have brought some prasāda or something for offering," the best energy will come to you. How you think, how you feel—your Maṇipūra Cakra will function accordingly, and words and thoughts will be created from it. Though they are only your thoughts, they are so loud you do not need a loudspeaker. To understand your awakening, your divine awakening, remember the inspiration from the first day. What inspired you to come to me? I was born six thousand kilometers away. You were born somewhere else. Your ancestors did not know my ancestors. We are not related in any way, except that we are humans on this planet. But something inspired you. That was a divine festival in your life. If you forget that, it will be like the sun setting; you will fall into darkness. Every holy festival, every holy event awakens divine energy within us. If you misuse it, it awakens āsuric energy, and you become destructive, because destruction is within you. Jisko Prabhu dharun dukdei, uski buddhi pele hi harlei. Whom God destines for troubles, from that person God takes away good thoughts, and negative thoughts enter the mind. These negative thoughts will eat and destroy that person. Spiritual awakening and Christmas are coming. Give presents, but with the heart. Do not count how expensive it was. Give your best friend earrings made of iron with a little gold coating. Then you will see the friendship. The person will see, "Oh, it's iron." But who loves you? That is not iron; it is the entire universe's love for you. Coming from the heart, observe yourself. Observe your awakening, and whatever you have given, do not count it. If you count, you are bound to karma. Why do you give? You give to get rid of it, to be free. Let us go to freedom. Therefore, it is said that nothing is interesting or valuable to me except one thing. It represents the United Nations, the Earth Charter, as well as many NGOs and governments coming together in dialogue: how to stop the increasing pollution on this globe, what they call climate change or global warming. The globe is threatened by climate change. The slogan of these nations, including the United Nations, is sustainable development. What do we understand by sustainable development? If we build factories or industries, is that sustainable? That cannot be sustainable. The world now has two streams. One stream is economic achievement in developing countries, because those called developed have already destroyed themselves. Now they would like other countries to also destroy human things today—many industries, roads, technologies. This is development, but according to Nature, Mother Earth, and ancient holy saints and incarnations, sustainable development can only be if we make our Earth sustainable again. Do not block the rivers. Do not pollute the rivers. A river is sustainable. Do not block the waters that feed the lakes. Do not pollute the area from where water comes into the lake. The lake is sustainable. Do not cut the forest. Protect the rainforest. Protect all forests. That is sustainable development. Plant more trees. Limit "use and throw" items. This is a step towards sustainable development. So much plastic, and so on. You can take one very important step. You can also inform your friends, colleagues, and children. If you are capable, yes, you can. I have here one chocolate in my hand. There are a few candies inside, but how big is the packaging? When you give someone a present, you wrap another paper around it. Can we make a saṅkalpa, a resolve, that we will not give any presents packed? We will give them as they are. You buy expensive colored packing paper, rip it carefully, place the cellophane nicely, and give it: "A present for you." What do I do? I say, "Oh, thank you, very nice," tear all the papers, throw them in the garbage, open the gift, and then say, "Oh, that's nice." There is a beautiful poem: Jātan pūchye sādhu kī, pūch lījye gyān, Mōl karīye talvār kā, parḍā rahne de miyān. Everything is clear, no? I need to explain, not translate. It says: Do not ask a sādhu about their caste, country, or nation. Do not ask this of sādhus. Ask for the knowledge, the wisdom they possess. When you buy a sword, ask the price of the sword, not about its cover. The cover is not important; what matters is the material and quality of the sword. Similarly, when you give someone a present, give it openly as it is. Say, "For the sake of sustainable development, for the sake of the United Nations and many other nations trying hard to achieve it, I did not pack this with plastics and papers, because forests are destroyed and colored paper pollutes the earth. But I have a nice present for you. Please take it as it is." Oh yes, this is important. Do you agree? Then say something. Therefore, begin this new culture, this new tradition, this new action. No more packing and paper for your presents. If you buy some nice cloth, you might be sure to throw the wrapping away, but the cloth can be used again. You see, it is for the sake of your country, your city or village, your house, and your household economy. Save and develop the household economy. Please try to use only materials you can reuse or recycle. Though papers are recyclable, trees are still cut down, so we shall try to read fewer newspapers. I know newspaper companies will be unhappy with me, but the same news is on television, radio, and from people. Try to reduce as much as you can the things we throw away daily. This is also a step toward sustainable development. Also, try to use only organic cosmetics—soap for cloth, and if possible, washing nuts. Who does not know about washing nuts? For laundry, to wash your clothes. I can demonstrate a little. Thank you very much. There are some nuts grown in countries like India. They look like dry plums or dry cherries. You put only four nuts, three to five, in a cotton bag. Oh my God, this is management. These are the nuts; they are very healthy for the environment because they are just nuts, with no chemicals. I must open and demonstrate nicely. I do not like plastics, so I will demonstrate on a plate. Thank you. These are the nuts on the plate. Everybody, please take a good look. I do not know if the camera is showing them. They look like this. If you have seen the Mecca Dome, they look like that. They are very nice, but not for eating; they do not taste good. I tried to eat them. Now, take only these five nuts and put them in a small cotton bag. Place it inside the laundry drum. That is all. Set your program and wash your laundry. No washing powders, nothing. Only this. You will see how nice and clean your clothes are. They will smell fresh and good. You can use these nuts three times. It is so economical. This is a step toward sustainable development and economy: economy for the producing country, for the exporting company, for the transport company, for the seller, and for the buyer because it is cheaper than washing material. And it is environmentally friendly. This is called sustainable development, plus greenery, plus forest. We will grow more trees. This is a very good suggestion: buy washing nuts; they are available worldwide. Similarly, there is shampoo. If you do not have shampoo, just take neem powder. Neem powder is very good for your skin, hair, stomach, everything. We call it Nīm Nārāyaṇa. Neem Nārāyaṇa means neem has the position of the God Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa. Neem has so many good qualities, no bad qualities—only good and good and good qualities. So do not run behind fashion. Fashion has destroyed our world. Someone has a half-sleeve shirt, so you will also get one. Someone has a plastic shirt; you will get a plastic shirt. Someone has this, so do not do this. Wear normal cotton dresses, use normal materials, and give presents openly. Tell them it is for the sake of sustainable development. If you think I am stupid, it does not matter; you can think. Through your thinking, I am not stupid. If someone says he is stupid, okay, it is his mouth; he can say it. But it does not mean I am stupid. So if someone thinks that giving a Christmas or birthday present like this—"This is for you"—makes you stupid, you are not stupid. You are the cleverest one. Nowadays, giving open presents is most accepted because of security. If you bring a wrapped present to your president, first it goes through X-ray, then they open it to look inside before proceeding. So why take the risk? No risk. Just say, "Open, Mr. President. This is for you." Very good. They will be happy because, anyhow, they have to open everything and throw everything away. We should not use things only to throw them away. Spirituality means not only meditation and prayer. Spirituality means to think about this beautiful planet, this holy earth, and also to think of other creatures and nature. Do not talk badly about someone. Būrā jo dekan ko chala, būrā na milā koī. Jab dil khojā āpna, mujhse būrā na koī. I went to see the bad one, but I did not find anyone bad. When I searched my own heart, I was the first bad one, and then I found another. Because you are angry, disappointed, or something, you are trying to become destructive. This destructive energy within you will destroy you. So do not be self-destructive. Negative thinking means poisoning oneself. Positive thinking means enlightening oneself.