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Part 1: The Weight of Life and the Resolve of a Student Sadāśiva samārambhāṃ śaṅkarācārya madhyamāṃ asmadācārya paryantāṃ vande guru paramparām. Gurur Brahmā, Gurur Viṣṇu, Gurur Devo Maheśvaraḥ, Gurur Sākṣāt Paraṃ Brahma, tasmai Śrī Gurave Namaḥa. Mannātha Śrī Jagannātha Madguru Śrī Jagadguru. Mamātmā Sarvabhūtātmā Tasmai Śrī Gurave Namaḥa. Salutations to the Cosmic Self. Salutations to Śrī Alakhpurījī Siddha Pīṭha Paramparā. My daṇḍavat praṇāms to our beloved Gurudev, His Holiness Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Maheśvarānanda Purī Jī. Om Namaḥ Nārāyaṇ to all the sannyāsīs present here. And Harī Om and good evening to all of you who are sitting here and those who are watching through Swāmījī TV. How are you all doing? Good. How was the day? Good? Beautiful. Very good. So, how do you say bhār? First, let’s start with this. It’s not bhar, it’s bhār. Last year, we were talking about this pronunciation—how important pronunciation is, how it can change the literal meaning of a word. Bhāra means weight. And bhār is where we drink. Not in Hindi, in English, but still. So, bhāra. Bhāra means weight. That weight of our selves. Bahar means kilos. Which weight? Not waiting, but kilos. So all the weight which is on our shoulders, we give it to you. But which weight are we talking about? We don’t only offload all the weight of the negativity, but all the happiness, all the sadness—everything we give. Abhā śobhā diyā, śobhā means I gave to you. Abhā means today, now. Jīvan kā sabhā bhārā tumāre hāthome, jīvan means life, and we gave all our life’s troubles, all our life’s happinesses, everything to do with our lives, we gave to you, O Gurudev. And by the way, before I forget, thanks to Śānti and Sevāpurī, that they are letting us use this beautiful Tilak Friendly. Only this time, it’s a collaboration between Tilak and Best Chai Universe. And because it was the first day, and they were very excited, all the youth were helping to clean this whole place. And they made eight liters of chai. So, you know what needs to be done. And also many, many, many people from all of you were helping to make beautiful cakes. And all the cakes, and also the donation from Śānti, the pizza and these things—all that will go into that same fund for the youth and children to buy something. So, coming back. Je jit tumhārī, je hār tumhārā. The problem is, whenever we are hit with any negativity, whenever we are hit with troubles, whenever something happens in our lives which is not in our control, then we remember God, and then we remember Gurudev. Dhṛḍha Niścaya, we were talking about this yesterday. Dhṛḍha Niścaya means determination. How many of you remember these five rules for students from last year? Reminding you again, it’s an interactive satsaṅg. You are allowed to talk, to raise your hands, to laugh, to cry, to do whatever you want. So I’ll ask you again, how many of you remember the five rules of human students? Anyone? Okay. Kākā Ceṣṭā, Kākā Ceṣṭā. Repeat after me, please. Bakodhyānaṁ Śvānanidrā Tathaivacālpāhārī Gṛhatyāgī Vidyārthī Pañcalakṣaṇam. Pañca means five, obviously. Pañc means five. Lakṣaṇ, the word lakṣaṇ, I think we all read or heard from Gurudeva. Vidyā Arthī, we were talking about Vidyā, and we will continue talking about that. Vidyā arthī, you hear that word vidyā that we talked about, and we will continue to talk about it. So vidyā means wisdom or knowledge. Arthī is the one who is receiving. Can we turn off the fan, please? Vidyā Arthī, Vidyā the one, then wisdom, the knowledge, and Arthī the one who is receiving that wisdom or knowledge. And we discussed that we all are, in one way or another way, students, right? We always learn something from each other. We always learn something from life. We always learn something from the happenings which are happening around us. Watch and learn. He never told how to do this or how to do that. But we all sat next to him. We all saw his way of functioning. And we learned. There’s always something we can learn from ourselves, from each other. So dhṛḍhaniścaya means that determination. And this śloka about the five qualities which a student should have talks about this dṛḍhaniścaya. Kāka Diṣṭā. Kāka means? Kāka means crow. Vrāna. Crow. We love crows, no? Kāka Diṣṭā. The determination, dṛḍha determination, of a crow. The determination, the resolve of a crow. What was the story with the crow? Even the stories we don’t remember? Picking the stones, please remember them, because now I realize that I will keep on asking questions until I get the answers, and until I know that we gained something from something. So we don’t really move forward until we learn the ones in the back. The crow and the vessel. Once upon a time. In the distant, far nation of the Czech Republic. There was a vessel, a water pot, and it was there near Saṅgam. And there’s a beautiful lake nearby. Green like the poison which Devpurījī drank a few days back. Only that poison was matcha, and this is natural matcha. So the crow could have gone and easily drunk water from there. Nā Kumbha Melā. But the crow’s digestive system, the jaṭharāgni, was better. It could have easily digested that nice green water. But the energy of the Saṅgam Hall was so strong because of all of your sādhanā. That the crow decided that he wants to drink water from that water pot where the energy of all your sādhakas is inside. But there was only one problem. Nirañjanjī was thirsty while leading the Anuṣṭhān. So he drank half of the pot. And the vessel, the opening of that, was very narrow. We have hands, so he could have easily picked it up and drunk like this. But for the crow, it has such a small beak. So it couldn’t drink water from it. So what it did is, it went flying around and did some karma yoga. And it went and collected small pebbles and rocks from all over this āśram. And one by one, he put those pebbles, those stones into that water vessel. And slowly, slowly, mānava dhīre dhīre cala gaganā gārā calanā rīmhā... I forgot, I still need to finish translating this one, so... that’s the problem with us politicians and sādhus. You give us a microphone and it’s hard to get it back. At least we are blessed to be trained by Gurudev. So we still have that Western mentality a little bit to take care of the time. Otherwise, you give the mic to Ācārya Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Viśokānanda Bhāratī Jī Mahārāja. And you can go for hours. But that’s the beauty of the wisdom. And that’s the beauty of all the great Siddha Mahāpuruṣas. That it is not svadharma, but it is paradharma. All the knowledge which is in them—it’s too much for them to keep within themselves. And as life has no estimate of time, they share as much as they can. For what? For janakalyāṇ. What does jan mean? What does kalyāṇ mean? Well-being, any other? Kalyāṇ means well-being or to free them, liberate them. So for Jala Kalyāṇ, they share as much as they have. So coming back to the crow, this is one thing. It took me a lot of nāhaṁ kartās to reach back to the topic from where I started. Because we say dhīre dhīre pomālī pomālī, and then I end up in mānava dhīre dhīre. So, pomalu pomalu, he lifted one stone and put it in till the water level rose. I only have one wish, I only have one determination. That I can receive your grace once in my life. But we are the living embodiment of divinity and grace. Because Gurudev is residing in our hearts. So this eka bāra tu maiṁ pājauṁ, once may I have that grace, we have it all the time. I give all the weight which is on my shoulders to you, because all the love is in your hand. If we have a certain wish, if we have some niścay, if we have some longing for something, and we believe it’s impossible to achieve, we need to know that the subconscious mind can make anything the reality in the conscious mind. He says to us that we are not worthy enough to do it. But when we go within and we listen to our subconscious mind, we will know and understand and believe that everything is possible. Jo jag me rahū̃, to aise rahū̃, jo jal me kamal kā phūl rahe. I love this English-Hindi, because, you know, it’s jal, but here you wrote jala, so I read jala. Like my name is Avatār, but we all say Avatār. No, what do we say? Avatār. It’s avatār. Exactly. Or someone’s name, like yesterday, how this whole topic of Vidyā arose. She writes V-I-D-Y-A, but we pronounce it V-I-D-H-Y-A, V-I-D-H-Y-A. What do we sing in our second part of the prayer? How does it start? At least the prayer we all know. I’m not talking about the stanzas: first part, second part, and third part. So second part, sing it. Yeah, so what was the starting? Siri, it’s not Apple Siri, it’s Śrī. Yeah, now my phone is saying hi. I’m not talking to you. So, the problem is, there’s no problem. The bhāva is still there. But the way Holī Gurujī was singing, it just continued like that. I’m not saying we should change it. We sing as our bhāva, as our feelings make us sing. But in reality, it is Śrī Dīpā they are. So in the same way, these all small, small pronunciation differences, these differences by time, by passing of generations, they are certain abbreviations. Like many children in India, they can’t pronounce "sh." Śh is another topic we can talk about. In India we have three śh. One is sā for Swāmījī. One is Ś, for Śaṅkar, that’s your normal S-H, that’s when you put your both teeth together and just say Ś. Ś for Śiva. And then there’s a third Ś, which does not exist in English. And then there is the third ṣ, which does not exist in English. But this is when we put our tongue up, when you put your tongue up. And then Śh. And it’s Śh. That’s the third ṣa, which is only in Sanskrit and in Hindi. And this is the third śa, which is only in Sanskrit and in Hindi. So these small, small things can change the meaning of a word. And these small, small things can change the meaning of a word. And these small changes can change the way of singing, and meaning, and understanding. So if I live in this jug, in this not water jug, but jug means world, jagat. What do we say? Brahmasatya? What do we say? Brahma Satyaṃ Jagat Mithyā. So this is again mithyā. A je to mithyā? It’s not mithyā, but mithyā. Je to zase to Th. See, I’m learning Czech. In English I would say T-H, but here is Th. Part 2: The Lotus and the Prison of the Mind In this world, I should live in the same way as the lotus lives in the muddy water. O Lord, O Gurudev, may all my doṣas, all my avaguṇas, all my bad qualities, be offered at your lotus feet. You have the solution for every single problem that is in this priest’s nerves and veins. Jaba jaba saṁsāra kā kārya banū, niṣkāma bhāva se karma karū. Kedī. We all are kedīs. What is kedī? Prisoner. Mansukrām Jī was living in India for a long time, so he also learned many Hindi words. Kedī means prisoner. And in one way, we all are prisoners. In which prison are we locked up? In the prison of our own mind. But in this bhajan, we are the prisoners of this saṁsāra, of this world. So he is trying to say: when we are born in this human birth, when we are born in this worldly, materialistic world, may I be able to serve you, to show my bhāva, my feelings, without any... That we will continue on the next slide. May I be able to serve you with niṣkāma bhāva. That is another topic we can take one day. Sakāma means something that we do with certain expectations, certain imaginations, certain goals which we are trying to achieve for ourselves. And niṣkāma bhāva is that feeling with which we act without any expectations in return for ourselves or others. So may I be able to do my karmas, to do my duties, to follow my day-to-day things with niṣkāma bhāva, without any expectations. Fir antasame me prāṇata jūs, sakāra tumāre hāto me. And in the last moment, when I leave this mortal body, then may that also be in your hands. The only difference between me and you is that I am a common, ignorant man or woman, and you are that Nārāyaṇ himself. You are that supreme consciousness, that light itself. I am in the hands of the world, and the world is in your hands. So when everything is in their hands, when happiness is in their hands, what is in our hands? Nothing, no? No, he gave us something: our mālās. That is in our hands. Our actions are in our hands. The way of our living is in our hands. I tend to forget while speaking that the reason why we have bonfire and outdoor satsaṅg is so that we can a little bit enjoy kīrtans and bhajans. So whenever we are singing bhajans or kīrtans, there is time for you to get up and get something. This time I am starting, so you can start. Mānava, holī holī... cala ghanāgara cala nare bhāī, mānava dhīre dhīre cala ghanāgara cala nare bhāī. Siddhi Prāṇāyāma Bhagavān Kī Jai. Siddhi Viśvagandhā Paramahaṃsa, Maheśvarānandajī, Gurujī, Vākījī Jai. Hazār bahattar nadiyāṁ chale, lambī lambī khāī. What does that mean? Hazār bahattar nadiyā chale — thousands and thousands of different rivers are flowing. But that we will talk about later. Let’s continue where we stopped yesterday. What did we talk about yesterday? Sarasvatī, but which aspect so far? White and swan. So what did we talk about today? Lotus. So what is lotus? What do we see? What does the lotus represent? Ātmā, staying above the world. Purity? Anything else? Chakras come up with ideas. The theory which I came up with matches Sadhvīdayā Jī’s purity over the world. Did you notice one thing with a lotus? It looks very beautiful. But there is a natural protective layer over it. It doesn’t matter how much mud, how much other things come, it all just falls off. Work, home, family, kids, partners, boss — all these things are, in one way or another, a certain level of responsibilities which this world gives us. But we still remain that lotus which is protected by that layer, that coat of water repellent, of Gurudeva’s protection. How many wolves in our minds? Two. One wolf represents which qualities? The bad qualities come across the mother lobe: ahaṅkār, īrṣyā, jealousy, envy, anger, lust — all these qualities. And the other wolf is the wolf of goodness. But then we should ask ourselves: which food are we feeding to which wolf? And then that is the result which we will get out of it. And that thought is that food. Our thoughts, which enter or which create themselves in our mind, are that food, and it depends which thoughts we are creating, which thoughts we are giving our attention and awareness to. And that thought, that food, will result in either the awakening of the bad wolf or the awakening of the good wolf. It is all about the awareness of the mind. It is about being aware which thought we are feeding. Now, did you ever think: goddess of wisdom? She should hold a book, not a vīṇā. What does wisdom have to do with music? Where is the guitar? Yeah, there is a guitar. Now in the guitar, when you tighten the strings too much, what happens? The strings break. If you leave the strings too loose, what happens? No sound. Reminds us of something? Reminds us of what? Life. Too much work equals stress. Too little work equals nothingness and boredom. So we tied the string too much — it is stress. We leave the strings of the mind too loose, and we go into boredom. Too much talking creates confusion, and too little talking or being silent without feeling or sharing the kindness and love and positivity — what does it give us? Distance. Everything that we see around us, there is something to learn or there is something to lose. We can learn from everything around us, we can learn from each person around us, we can learn from everything. Sarasvatī Jī teaches us harmony, balance, unity, clarity, awareness, and balance. Yoga teaches us unity, and Gurudev gives us harmony and peace. And we have all three of them. Chintāmaṇi kāraṇa, Chintāmaṇi kāraṇa. Again, bhajan started. All the worries become the one without any worries. Sūrya Bhagavān Kī Jai. Be without any worries, be without any bhāj. Kabhi matā dhāraṇā — dhāraṇā means worry. Don’t be worried, don’t have that fear, because know that Gurudev is there to protect us. What is the power of words? When we study, when we were in school, or in our younger days — you see, I am already talking like I am 100 years old. But I feel like that, so no problem. The body is something else. But inside, God knows how many years old we are. Yes, our mantra birthday, that is when we are zero years or one year again. But this soul inside, how many lives was it suffering to have? So the words of power: we always had someone who told us, "My dear, I believe in you." And many years later, someone asked that young man at the time, when he or she became a great doctor, a great professor — you see, Indian genes are still there. We always think: doctor, professor, engineer. So after he became a successful, great doctor, someone asked him in an interview, "What is something that changed you? What is something that changed your life?" Then we remember, yes, that one person, that one friend of mine, that one teacher of mine believed in me before I believed in myself. So that is what Gurudev is doing. He remembered about us. He thought about us before we even did for ourselves. Why? Because there is no sakāma bhāva, there is only niṣkāma bhāva in Gurudev’s heart. Because he thinks about others before he thinks about himself. Doesn’t matter how many times doctors told him not to travel, not to do this, he always still came here for us. There was one man, and a sādhu came to his house, and he complained to that Gurujī. "Gurujī, my wife is always complaining, always shouting, nothing, we are always fighting." Then the wife says, "Gurujī, but... there is always an ale." So she said, "Gurujī, but he never listens." Then Gurujī starts laughing. And he says, "The problem is that he or she is speaking without awareness. And you are listening without patience." So until we have awareness while talking, and if we don’t have patience while listening, it won’t be a normal conversation. Because we might say so many things which might or might not affect the other person. But there is zero awareness while talking. And that is how arguments start. That is how the first crack in the relationship starts. Because the other person who is listening is not patient enough. "My dear, you did this and you did that, and why did you do this and why did you do that?" And before he or she can finish the sentence, the other one will start: "Yeah, but this and that," and try to justify themselves. We all did it. We all did it in our relationships. We all did it in our friendships. We all did it in our day-to-day life. We talk without awareness, we listen without patience. First, if one person brings some awareness to the thing which he is trying to convey... Vikram, where is my chai? Normal, please. Ketali, there is a beautiful śloka which we created. Ketali garbha bhadhe sambhūtam. Oh, sorry, no translation. Śarkarā paṭṭī miśritam namo cai caṇḍikāyai namo namaḥ. Which means? The one which resides in the stomach or in the womb of the pot. The one which is mixed with chai, leaves, and sugar. Praṇām to that namo chai chaṇḍikāyai namo namaḥ. So, I don’t think you will get this joke. The whole Indian will get to understand that. It doesn’t matter. So, awareness and patience are very important. And that is what Gurudev, that is what yoga, that is what ourselves. Meditate. We are halfway through. And at least that is what I do. I don’t know if you do it. Open our eyes and check: where is this end? So that awareness and that patience we can learn from mālā. That is why we have sumaraṇs which do not have that guru bead. So you just go on and on and on. But did we ever think that everything has somewhere from where it originates? This tree has to have roots for it to grow. So in the same way, Sarasvatī Devī, the mother, she also originates from somewhere. There are so many different forms and factors which we worship. Wisdom we take, Sarasvatī Jī. Wealth, we take Lakṣmī. We want fearless anger, Kālī. We want to be fearless, Durgā. But they all originate from that same Bhagavatī Parāmbhā. That Bhāgavatī Parāmbhā is that one which originates, and they all are the forms of her. Mahāprabhujī kī āratī, Mahāprabhujī kī āratī.