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Part 1: Yoga: The Path to Inner Unity Greetings to the cosmic self. Greetings to the cosmic self. Something like that. Salutations to Śrī Alakhpurījī, Siddha Pīṭha Paramparā. My daṇḍavat praṇām Svabhāvāvadhūta Guru Dev, His Holiness Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Māheśvarānanda Purī Jī. And Harī Om and good evening to all of you who are present here and those who are watching through Swāmījī TV. Before we start any yoga exercises, or before we start anything in the gym, there is something called a pre-workout. For us to slightly align ourselves, to align our physical body and the conscious self, we need some pre-workout. So these bhajans were a little bit to hype us up and to get our energy a little bit up. Yoga, the word yoga, what does it mean? Yoga comes from the word yuj in Sanskrit, which means unity. So there are these exercises and twisting and turning, and all this is part of yoga, but the literal word means unity. Yoga does not divide us by culture, by religion, by diversity, by anything. We are very open and united. There are four paths in yoga. What we were practicing now, or what we were singing, is part of Bhakti Yoga. When we sing, when we chant mantras, when we talk satsaṅgs, these are all part of Bhakti Yoga. Then when we do our sādhanā, when we go into our meditation, when we do our mantras, then we do Kriyā Yoga. When we are helping out, what do we say? Sevā Dharma, Paramo Dharma, which means sevā dharma is the highest dharma, which means service is the highest dharma. But selfless service. Whatever we are doing, whatever we are serving, whatever we are doing in our lives, if it is done without any expectations, if it is done selflessly, then you are doing something. When we help out someone, then it is not a transaction. When we do service, when we do selfless service, like cleaning a park or cleaning the river or whatever, anything that we do has to be done without anything that we are expecting in return. Because as soon as it becomes a transaction, then it is not selfless anymore. Then we are expecting something in return, that I am going to do this for you, and you will give me this in return. When it becomes a transaction, then it is not anymore; it is paid. But when it is done with purity in heart, when it is done with devotion, anything that we do, then that is known as true sevā, true service. When we do not do it for Instagram, when we do not do it, when we look around, we take a broom up and then we look around, is anyone watching? And then I am going to broom? Then there is no clarity or purity inside of us. But when we do something when no one is watching, when we do it because we want to do it, not because our parents or our friends or someone forced us to do something, then the way of feelings, the way how you will feel after that, will be much different. So that selfless service is known as Karma Yoga. Karma means doing something, the verb of doing, like I am doing something, so that doing is karma. And we can also, we know karma as, you know, karma will bite you back, that karma. And Jñāna Yoga is—there are many Jñāna Yogas. We all are in one way Jñāna Yogis. We all follow in our own way all four paths. Any type of knowledge that we gain from reading, from learning, from studying, that is Jñāna Yoga. When we get some knowledge from someone, or from reading, or from studying, so in our day-to-day life, we are technically following all four paths of yoga. We run, we learn, we read, we write. That is Jñāna Yoga. We do our sādhanā, we do our kriyānuṣṭhāna, we do our mālās. That is Rāja Yoga or Kriyā Yoga. We come to the āśrams, we help out, we help our community, we help each other, we help everyone around us. That is Karma Yoga. And Bhakti Yoga, when we are here singing, when that atmosphere is Bhakti Mai, which means when the atmosphere is full of devotion. There is a difference between faith and blind faith. In our life, we are always looking up to something or someone. But many times, we forget that we are more than capable ourselves to do anything and everything. We just need the right direction. We have a car. We know how to drive. We have a driving license, but we do not know the way. And then comes in Google Maps, or Waze, or whatever. So, same as our spiritual journey. We have the human birth, that is the greatest gift, because it is said eating, sleeping, and reproducing can be done by any animal, but humans have something here, a brain to think, but do we think? I mean, we think all the time. Our brain is constantly just running and running and running. But viveka is very important. Viveka means intuition power. Viveka is determining what is good and what is bad. To know what is the right path and what is the wrong path, that is Viveka. The brains are there. I often nowadays say this: that before, I used to think that this mind is a monkey mind. But now I made a slight addition to that: it is a monkey who is drunk. And who is walking barefoot on thorns? And that is us, that is actually our brain. We all are sitting here today, we are all enjoying the satsaṅg, the bhajans, the talks. Physically, we all are sitting in this hall, mentally— Mentally, where are we? Are we all here? Or are we at our home, at our work, thinking if we left the gas on, if we left the lights on, if we closed the windows in the car? Kids who started their holidays today, they are thinking, "When are we going to Croatia to the beach?" Right? There is always something going on in our mind, and that is why we never feel that inner peace, because we are so stuck with our external things, with the things that are happening around us, that we forget to look within. We forget about ourselves. We are more worried about everything around us, but until we love ourselves, until we accept ourselves, we will not be able to accept others around us. We will not be able to love people around us. For us, every living being, every creature, every plant, every species, all are equal to us. They all are the beautiful creation and the beautiful part of this beautiful universe which we live in, and we are also a part of that ecosystem. We also live on the same planet. But we all have our own individual dharma, which means we all have our own individual duties. We are not going to go out in the grass and start grazing the grass like sheep. And sheep are not going to go to the offices and work. We would wish for that. Not to eat the grass part, but that someone else would work for us. Why? Because we are lazy. We like to be lazy. If we had nothing to do, we never let it relax. Even in our sleep, it is going on. We go to sleep, we say, "OK, now there is peace." And then dreams, nightmares, whatever. So when is the mind at peace? Technically, never. Because from the second we wake up to the second we go to sleep, our mouth is continuously talking. If not talking, then our mind is talking. That is why I say we need to be very careful and very observant. When we say something bad or nice, do we ever think, how will my words affect the other person? What I say comes out of my mouth within a second, a millisecond. But the person who we are saying it to, what effect is it having on them? Do we really mean what we are saying? Are we aware of what our thoughts are? Are we aware if our thoughts and actions are aligned? Most of the time, not. Because there is no coordination between our mind, the actions, and the things that we are doing. Because awareness is missing, and that bhāva, that feeling, is missing. Whatever we do, if it is done with pure intention, with purity in heart, and with awareness, then that work will be much different. Studying is boring, right? College, school. But even if it is boring, we still go through it. Here in the Western world, you still have a choice to drop out, which is not a smart idea, but okay. In India, there is not much of a choice. You will study, that is it. But then, is the child or is the student really wanting to do it, or is he just pushed and forced to do it? And even if they are forced or not forced, but they have to go through it, then at least we should make certain changes, which will be that we are doing it with full awareness. Otherwise, it is wasting our own time and wasting others' time. But if it is done with awareness, and if we are doing it with feelings, with power, but that is okay, I want to learn something, I want to do something, then it will get much easier for ourselves. When we are cooking, then with which intention, with which bhāva, with which feelings are we cooking? We have a fight with our husband or wife, and then we are cooking, and I hate that person. That word "hate" is so strong, and that is the feeling which is going on within our head, within our mind, within our heart, and that feeling is going into the food which we are cooking. If we are playing, play with full devotion. Play fully, like you were flying the drone today. In the same way, you were fully into it, right? So, it does not matter if we are studying, sleeping, playing, on our phones, watching Netflix, whatever, be devoted in that at that time. Kāla and Diś, it means time and space. There is always a time and place for things that are done. There is always a time and place for work, there is a time and place for satsaṅg, there is a time and place for playing. Everything in this world has a specific time and a specific place. But you know what is the most problematic thing in our lives? Worries. We worry too much. We worry about things that are not in our control. We worry about things that we cannot physically change. We worry about everything around us except ourselves. Before things even happen, our mind will be, "What if this will happen in this and this way?" That is exactly answering the question: what if? That means that did not happen. And that is just an assumption which is going on in our heads. And most of the time, the things that we think might happen do not happen. And those things that we do not think will happen, that automatically happens. If we would get everything that we wanted, if we would have everything the way we want it to be, then what is the fun of life? This is life. We create problems, we find the solution to the problems, and we continue creating more problems. So this is how our life works. Pretty simple. If we are the ones who created technology, if we humans are the ones who created wars, if we humans are the ones who created everything, then it is the same human brain that is creating problems. Every lock has a key. So, if there is a lock, there has to be a key. If the key is lost, you will find it. If you cannot find it, you will find a locksmith to make a new key, which means you will find a guide who guides you through the process. The end resources break the lock. The end resources break the lock. Break the lock. So there is always a way. Where there is a will, there is a way. But we always try to find ways to make it that it is not our will, it is not our wish. Why? Because we are happy in our own comfort zones. We are okay in what we are, which is santoṣa, which is good, contentment. But santoṣa, contentment, is very different from laziness. So if we are lazy, or if we are happy and content, they are two different things. Opportunities come and we reject them. When opportunity comes and we reject it, that is not santoṣa, that is laziness. Santosha or contentment is when we have everything, but if the next day everything disappears, we are still okay with it. We are okay with what we have, and we are okay with nothing. Because we all, in one way or another way, we all have enough to live peacefully our lives. Human nature wants more. Moha āsakti, which means, how do you call it, greed. We have a lot of greed in our life. We get this much, and we want this much because it is never enough for us. Let us say we go to a nice restaurant, we get this much food, but our eyes and our tongue are much bigger than our stomach. We always order more than we can eat. Why? Because we are not content with what we have. We are not satisfied with what we have. We look around at people, at friends, we get jealous of them. Our head is just honking like crazy. And that inner peace can only be achieved by our own selves. Part 2: The Path of Awareness and Self-Discovery If we sit with ourselves, in our meditation, in our day-to-day life, if we are more aware of our own self—we don’t go within. We don’t ask questions. We ask questions to ChatGPT instead of ourselves. And trust me, we know much more than ChatGPT. Even ChatGPT and the AIs nowadays are trained by humans. But we rely so much on these things that we forget that we know things. That is why I say there is always a good side and a bad side to things. The good side of technology is that now the whole world can see the satsaṅg through the internet, through cameras, and through webcasts. The bad thing is that we have all become more and more lazy and dependent on these things. Why come to Strilky? We have internet, we will watch it online, no? But the difference between us sitting here in the hall and enjoying the atmosphere of each other is vastly different from enjoying it online. Because that atmosphere is created by us as individuals, all sitting here united. You sit in an āśram, in a spiritual place where there are bhajans, where there is a gathering like this. And you do not need to go too far to any clubs. Just go outside to anything beyond the āśram, and you will immediately feel the energy shift. And it is not me, it is not anything else. It is you all, it is our own collective energy that we feel. Because if we are all sitting in this hall, that means we are all somewhat on the same page. We all have a certain hunger, a certain thirst towards spirituality, towards gaining something. And we can always learn something from each other. There is no one in this world who is perfect. We all have our own flaws. But if we are aligned inside and we ask the question, "Who am I?" to ourselves—what is the cause of my existence? From where did I originate? These are the three simple questions we need to ask ourselves. And when we get the answer to that, then we are already somewhat aligned. We need to do something: self-discovery. That is what Swāmījī is doing, no? Self-discovery meditations. We do not need anything. We need love. We need compassion. And we need to unite. In this modern world, we are all running in all different directions possible. Certain motives, certain goals are set in our head, and we just focus towards that. But sorry to say, unfortunately, this life which we have is pretty unpredictable. We do not know the future. What happened in the past, we cannot really change it. But most of our time, most of our day, we are either thinking about what will happen or what went wrong. And we are so stuck in the future or in the past that we forget about the present itself. We are worried about everything else. Chant, chant... We let go of our own worries. So we let go of many things in our lives—let it go, let it go. So if we let go of so many things, let us also let go of our worries. Satyapatha āchalana, which means walk the path of the truth. This whole illusory world, this whole world will disappear. Neither this is the reality, nor is this body the reality. When a king was dreaming one night, he saw that he was a beggar. And he was in such shock that from his sleep he woke up, and then he saw that he was a king. And then he started thinking, is this the real me, or is that the real me? Am I a king who is dreaming of being a beggar, or am I a beggar who is dreaming of being a king? Then Śaṅkarācārya Jī tells us that neither that is real nor is this real. Even this body, which we are, this is just clothes. We open our closet every morning and we see how many clothes we have. Which clothes should I wear today? For me, it is slightly simpler. I open, which shade to wear? So not really hard for me. But in the same way, the ātmā, the soul, when it is done with one body, it goes into the second one. And the cycle of death and birth is just continuing and continuing. First, mother’s cradle, mother’s lap and cradle. Then after some time you go from the cradle, then cradle, school, home, school, home. Work home, work home. And after that is done, then finally we retire, no? After we retire, we get a pension. But Gurudev always says, it is not pension, it is tension. Because then it is home, hospital, home, hospital. Then finally one day we die, then we think we are free. Then it is death, birth, death, birth, death, birth. So when are we going to work on ourselves so that we can free ourselves from this circle, this cycle of death and birth? And stop changing these clothes of this human body or any other bodies? That happens when this Ātmā, this soul, unites with that Paramātmā, with that Supreme Self. But that works when we live the path of truth, the path of dharma, righteousness. And to differentiate between right and wrong, we need viveka. Once upon a time, there was a guru and a disciple. For example, me and Vikram, or Mukesh. So, one day, they had one horse with them. And they were traveling around across India. And on the horse, they had the luggage. And sometimes when the master was tired, he also sat on it. While walking back home or to wherever they were going that night, out of his bag, a few things like his towel and a few clothes fell out. In the evening they reached their destination. Vikram brings the bags, and I open the suitcase. It is a fictional story, so do not worry. And some things are missing, so he asks the disciple, "Where are my things?" "Master, it fell down on the way, you know, it was a bumpy ride and the horse is anyhow bumping a lot, so it just fell out." "Why didn’t you pick it up?" "Because you didn’t tell me to." "Okay, so from today onwards, whatever falls down, you will pick up." Next day again, they are on the horse, and the horse does its business. And after that, the disciple picks it up and puts it in Gurujī’s suitcase. And then in the evening he calls, "Give me my suitcase, I need to go and have a bath." Talking to the disciple and grabbing things inside. It was a nice, warm feeling. So, then why this? "Gurujī, you told me, pick up everything that falls. So I am listening to you." So, then he said, "OK, so give me a list." Toothbrush, toothpaste, clothes, books, this, that, and I will go according to the list. Days passed, and one day it was stormy weather. Heavy rain. Which river do you have here? Váh. Váh. So, the Váh river’s flow was very high, and they needed to cross it. So, Gurujī sat on the horse and started crossing the river. And on the way, he fell down. "Help! Help!" Then he took out the list and started reading the list. "Sorry, Gurujī, you are not on the list." So that is where our viveka comes into place. To know what is right and what is wrong. To figure out and know that we do not need to be told every single detail, that we know with our intuition power what is right and what is wrong. We need to understand that we all are the best versions of ourselves. Always we will find people around us who will try to pull us down. Either because we are too successful and they do not like it, so that is jealousy or envy, or they have brilliant advice that you should do this and this and this way. So everyone around us is a doctor, engineer. You know, you get a stomach ache in India, they will say, yes, take this medicine, or that one, no, no, take this one. So we all know everything, technically. But then what about the real doctors who studied for eight to ten years? That is why I am saying we all have our own dharmas, we all have our own individual duties to do. If everything were perfect, then it is not life. Yesterday I was sharing one example, I will share it again. Sandalwood has a beautiful smell, but no fruits. A river has fresh water, but is not stable, always flowing. A pond or a sea or something is slightly more, not flowing like a river, more stagnant. The water is salty. Those who are not so rich are happy within. And those who are rich are not happy. So in all of our lives, there is always something which is not going to be to our standards, which is not going to be as we want it to be. If we had all the worldly things, we would not have inner peace. When people say, "Does money buy happiness?" my answer would be no. It does not. Because once I went to a very rich family’s house for dinner and satsaṅg. In the evening we had dinner, and I asked, "Where is your family?" "Son and his wife are in London. Their grandkids are in Australia. My wife lives in the next house because we do not get along." So who lives here? "Me and thirty servants." Very good. Are you happy? And then he starts crying. So then that day I realized money does not buy happiness. Family brings happiness, friends bring happiness, unity brings happiness. When we unite ourselves instead of dividing ourselves, then we will feel that peace amongst all of us. When we accept everyone, first we accept ourselves, then we accept everyone for how they are as their own individual selves. Imagine the world without judgment. Without ego, without jealousy, without anger, without envy. But that peace we need to bring in ourselves first, to spread it further. And for that, let us start with awareness. That is it. Being aware of every single action and thought of ourselves. Now in this last trip it was more bhakti lectures. This time it is more awareness and mauna. A little bit louder? Oh, you are talking to him. I can be louder, just a little bit. Mauna, let us practice a little bit of mauna every day. Mauna means silence. But not silence meaning, "OK, I am going to bed and I am going to be silent." No. Silence with awareness. Morning, evening, whenever we have time, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, not our sādhanā time, except that. We go silent. No imaginations. No control on thoughts. Do not try to stop them. The blue sky is constant. The clouds come and go. So thoughts shall also come and go. Do not control them. But just be aware of them. Because we blabber so much in our days, and the whole day we are just all the time blabbering. And in that 30–40 minutes, give time for yourself. I have worked all my day, now it is time for me. No, you do not need to do anything. Just sit with yourself. Just go within. Ask yourself questions if you want to. You will get the answers. Connect yourself. Connect this body, this physical body, with that soul which is inside, with that pure heart which is there. No one is perfect. Good qualities, bad qualities are inside of each and every one of us. So do not try to be perfect. And do not try to find someone in our lives who is perfect. Because no one in this world is. If we were perfect and clean and pure, we would be gods, not human beings. And we all can learn something from each other every day. If awareness is there, then when you are observing things around you, the happenings, you will see them in many different ways. If someone is saying something around you, if something is happening around you, if you give your attention to it, you will see so many aspects of that specific thing. We all have this within. We just need to discover it. And once we are peaceful inside, once we feel that inner peace, then we are happy. And then it is not anymore that momentary happiness, but it is the ultimate bliss. Buying new objects, buying new cars, phones, anything—will make us happy for a certain period of a while, for 10 days, 15 days. We go to a party, we go and drink, we are happy till the morning. But we go within and we find that in peace we will be happy forever. Then external happiness, momentary happiness, will not affect us so much. If things happen in our lives, we are okay with it. If things go away from our life, we are also happy with it. We were born with nothing, we will die with nothing. So let us try to let go a bit. Let go of expectations. With every breath, we are aware that we are inhaling the prāṇa śakti, the beautiful energies. And we are aware that with every exhalation, we are releasing those negative energies, those toxin energies, and everything. Do not need to see lights and different planets in your sādhanā. Just start with simple breathing awareness. That is it. Be aware of the thoughts, be aware of the breathing, be aware of your actions, be aware of what you say, be aware of everything. Just that awareness will bring clarity and peace. And we love ourselves, we are good, and we are happy. And everyone around us is also loved by us.