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Sadāśiva samārambhāṃ Śaṅkarācārya madhyamāṃ asmat ācārya paryantāṃ vande guru paramparām. Gurur Brahmā, Gurur Viṣṇu, Gurur devo Maheśvaraḥ, Gurur sākṣāt paraṃ Brahma, tasmai śrī gurave namaḥ. Mannātha Śrī Jagannātha, Madhguru Śrī Jagadguru. Mamātmā Sarva Bhūtātmā Tasmai Śrī Gurave Namaḥa. Salutations to the Cosmic Self. Salutations to Śrīlā Pūjya Siddhapiṭha Paramparā. My dhanavād praṇām, Swā Bilāl Gurudev, His Holiness, Viśvaguru, Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar, Maheśvarānanda Purī Jī. Oṃ Namaḥ Nārāyaṇ to Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar, Swāmī Vivek Purī Jī. Oṃ Namaḥ Nārāyaṇ to all the sannyāsīs present here. Hari Oṃ and good evening to all of you who are present in this hall. And many blessings from Gurudeva and much love from Strilky to all of you who are watching through Swamiji TV. I see many of you came now, so welcome to your home. And let us enjoy celebrating the beautiful occasion of Guru Pūrṇimā. Originally, Guru Pūrṇimā is coming in a few days, and we will celebrate it in an Om Āśram with Gurudev. But when Rāmjī went for exile, then his brother Bharat, he asked, "Oh brother, now you are going, so how will we represent that you are still sitting on the gādī, that you are still the king?" He said, "Then you become the king." Bhadrajī said, "Nayī Bhagavān, you are the king, you are always going to be, and you are the Maryādā Puruṣottam, the one who lives with dignity, the one who lives in Dharma." So it does not matter if the pādukās are worn once, or if they are worn a hundred times. The pādukā is always going to be the pādukā, because the great gurus walked in those pādukās. And the energy flows from the ground upwards. That is why we wear wooden shoes. Because pādukās are one thing which is made out of wood, and wood does not hold the energies back. It lets the energy flow directly through and throughout. And even you can see how preciously Gurudev keeps the dust particles from Mahāprabhujī's lotus feet. One day, Holy Gurujī was cleaning the shoes of Mahāprabhujī. Once upon a time, Holī Gurujī wiped or cleaned the ashes of Śrī Mahāprabhujī. And he took that dust from the shoes to keep for himself. Why? Because any place, any soil where the holy lotus feet have touched, that soil automatically becomes blessed and becomes holy. Alakhpurījī's cave, Devpurījī's cave, they are all caves. And that cave, when we are not around, God knows what is happening. You never know who is staying, with which energy, with which intentions. But still, for us, that is a holy cave. Why? Because in the lotus feet of the Master, in the lotus feet of Guru Dev, all the pilgrimages are residing. There is no need to go to any other pilgrimages. And in the same way, as the soil becomes blessed, and this whole Strilky Ashram is blessed by Gurudeva's energy, in the same way, the pādukās are blessed because he has walked on them. This is, I think, Gurujī's pādukās, no? Mahāprabhujī's pādukās. You have it in the Kathu Hall. So we have got it from there. So today you are all blessed that you can have darśana with it, because every time it is closed in a sealed box. And that divine light of Mahāprabhujī, which flowed through Holy Gurujī and then Gurudev... And Pūrṇimā is the full moon. And for us, every day is a Guru Pūrṇimā. For us, every day is a Dīvālī. For us, every day is a celebration. For us, every day is Guru Pūrṇimā, every day is Dīvālī, every day is Oslava. Because we do not just remember the Master this one day. But we live with that Master, with that Guru Tattva inside of our hearts, day and night, all the time. That energy which is within each and every one of our hearts. Before, it was Amāvasyā, no moon in our hearts. And then Gurudev lit that flame, and that flame turned into a beautiful full moon. And this is the day where we remember the Guru, because sometimes we forget to remember Him. As I previously mentioned, we remember Guru or God when something is messed up. And we go, "Oh Gurudev, oh God, please help me." And we have a whole long monologue with them. But when everything is alright, we go, "Thank you, Gurudev, for everything. See you tomorrow." Guru Pūrṇimā is also known as Vyāsa Pūrṇimā. Because it is when Veda Vyāsa, Bhagavān, was remembered and started being worshipped as a guru. Without Veda Vyāsa, we would not have the Vedas, the Purāṇas, everything he wrote, the Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata. And without that, sanātana dharma would be incomplete. We would not know the depth of the sanātana dharma. And since that day, Guru Pūrṇimā has been celebrated in this āṣāḍha month. And that is when we remember what Gurudev has done for us. Then we remember that darkness which was within ourselves, which turned into the light after meeting Gurudev. It is time for us to remember all the bad things that happened and how they changed. It is also a time for us to remember all the bad things that happened to us, or that we did, before He changed it. By the guidance of Gurudeva, by the protection of Gurudeva, by Him showing us the light, but by us walking on that path. For us to remember that we are the ones who stepped foot into that boat. And for us to remind ourselves that it does not matter how rocky that boat goes, we have that faith, we have that trust, and we keep our foot in that boat. And then our faith, our devotion, these old things get shaken up a bit. But then we remember again the darkness which we had, and the light which we have now. So it is a day to remember Guru Dev. It is a day to think about everything. And to receive that kṛpā and that mercy and that guidance of Gurudev, which we are always longing for. Because Gurudev is the living embodiment of kindness, of love, of compassion. We are celebrating Guru Pūrṇimā Satsaṅg, so that is for us to just remind ourselves, and that is why we come here to Strilky, because this feels like home. We know that in these closed boundaries we are safe. In the Hanumān Chālīsā, what do we sing? bhūta-prīta-nikata-nahīṁ āve jahāṁ mahāvīra-kā nāma sunāve. So in the same way for us, bhūta-prīta-nikata-nahīṁ āve jahāṁ mahāvīra-kā nāma sunāve, bhūta-prīta-nikata-nahīṁ āve jahāṁ mahāvīra-kā nāma sunāve. No negative energies, no ghosts, nothing can affect us, if we are in the protection and the guidance of the Master in the ashram. In the Hanumān Chālīsā, it is sung that where the name of the Lord is repeated, no spirits can come. And we have already two divine souls living in the Svarga Rohiṇī from today onwards. So, it is a beautiful place. You have everything in this āśram. Every tree, every branch, every leaf, every grass tells a story of what this āśram has gone through, what development Gurudev has done, not for himself, but for us. We look at the placement of every object around the āśram. You will see how meticulously Gurudev has placed things in their respective places. Because he is jñānī and we are jñānī jīvas. That means between you and me, there is only one difference: that you are Nārāyaṇ, you are God Supreme Himself, and I am Nar, which means I am a human being. Where Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Śekhānabhūdai. So Gurudev Himself is the living embodiment. Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu, Guru Devo Maheśvaraḥ. Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśa. All three of them reside in Gurudev. Or as we have in our prayer, where we say that Rāma and Kṛṣṇa had their Guru. In the Guru, there is Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśa. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān, Kī Jai. Hari Om, dear brothers and sisters. Hari Om, dear brothers and sisters. Praṇām to my Guru Bhais, Praṇām to Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar Swāmī Avatārpurījī Mahārāj. Praṇām to all my Guru brothers and also to Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar Swāmī Avatārpūrī Jī. I am happy that I am here. I am happy that I am here. And also we are happy that, and luckiest one, that we are celebrating the Guru Pūrṇimā one week. Guru Pūrṇimā for us is one of the most important festivals. We have many festivals, but for us, three festivals are very important. Guru Pūrṇimā, Mahāśivarātri, and Dīvālī. Why Dīvālī? Because of the birthday of Mahāprabhujī. The whole week we will talk about Guru Pūrṇimā. The whole week we will talk about Guru Gītā and the importance of the Guru. But what is very important to know? Without the Guru, nothing in this world would be possible. But what is very important to know is that without a guru, nothing in this world is possible. Nowadays, many people like and want to talk about how we do not need a guru. Today, it is modern. Many people say that we do not need a guru. And because of that, guru, teacher, master is a little deleted from our language. And modern language now talks about mentors. But now, even change this to the donator who is donating something. It is a disaster. And the root of that problem starts from Mūlādhāra Chakra. Because in the Mūlādhāra Chakra, ego, and Svādhiṣṭhāna Chakra, our ego is so great that we think that we do not need the Guru. And in modern culture, talk, you may do, and you will learn everything by yourself. Only a little scroll and go to the internet. I am your new guru. Artificially, but that is impossible. Guru is not a person, but Guru Tattva, the element of the Guru. Is that a principle when you have, aha, I understand now? We need experience, we need experience from not only one person, but paramparā, and that is the main principle in the ancient tradition of Sanātana Dharma. That it is possible to learn something only from the Guru. And that knowledge was accumulated, I will say. But accumulate with experience. If we just read the old scriptures, that language is also hard for us. But remember lectures of Viśvagurujī. He starts with the computer. He starts to explain through the computer. And stories from ancient times, he adapts and gives to us according to time and space. I always talk about India and here. Give me a little water, give me a little rain. Look to Bollywood movies. Always trees and water, and a little mist of the water is in the air. And imagine morning meditation in the Strilky. Imagine, see the rain, the water is coming to your skin, and you are already wet from the night in the tent. For me, one story is very important: why to have a guru? I would like to say one story, which is very important to me: why to have a guru? One guru lived in the forest with the disciples. And with all family, I will say, disciples and guru, in the āśram there also lived one cat. And with the whole family, and besides the disciples, there also lived one cat. During the meditation, during the sitting, the cat was just walking around and jumping from one lap to another, just disturbing our deep meditation. And the disciple was not so pleased with this and said to Gurujī, "Gurujī, your cat is disturbing our meditation." And Gurujī said, no problem. Tied the cat before meditation to the tree. And the master was old, and he passed away. The cat was old, and also passed away. And disciples start to write a book about meditation. First sentence: Before starting meditation, you must buy a cat. First sentence. After that, tie the cat to the tree and sit in the position for meditation. Without a guru, very soon everybody will start to buy a cat. Imagine, not imagine, just remember how many stupid things were between us, and Swamijī was also with us. I remember one thing in Zagreb, Croatia, something 40 years ago. The idea was, during the meditation, you should be without movements. Okay, that is important. But next, without movements, that only three times during the meditation you may swallow your saliva. And, you know, meditation was on the saliva, like at the stomatologist. You start to drool. That is the yoga without guru. That is spirituality without guru. Just went to the internet, Instagram, etc. and looked at all these spiritual mystics without paramparā. And be, just be, a positive observer. Analyze. Listen to the lecture of your Gurudeva and stay on the path, because you know what Swamiji was talking about: the difference between guru and kangaroo. And you need to know what is the guru and what is the kangaroo. Kangaroos have a very long, strong tail. Abhyāsa, abhyāsa... practice, practice, practice. And through practice, we will change. But how will we change? You know that story about one man who got a mantra? And become a disciple? And Gurujī asked him, "What do you think about me?" And that man said, "Gurujī, you are looking like my bull." You know that all disciples were angry. How can you say that Gurujī is looking like a bull? And Guruji said, "No, no..." He gave me a compliment, that I am strong. A few years later, the same question to the same man. And that man said, "Gurujī, you are very clever. You are talking, and you are living from your talks." And disciples also, angry. And Master said, "No, no, look, a few years ago I was a bull, and now I am a clever man." That is evolution. And a few years later, Gurujī asked, "What do you think about me?" And that man folded hands and started to repeat mantra: Om Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Maheshwara. And that is evolution. That is evolution, not of the guru, but that is the evolution of disciple, śiṣya. And that evolution is possible only through our practice. If our practice is not so good, and we have many disturbances, not only cat, but who knows what we have in our head. But Swāmījī said to us that Gurujī was answering also one question about my practice, it is not so good. And Guruji said, "No problem." You know Taylor? Yes, I know Taylor. And you know that he is making your shirt? Talking with the people in the shop. Looking at what happens on the road, and work on your shirt. And in the end, you have a shirt. What it means is, it does not matter how you practice. Oh, I did not practice good. I have not good concentration, focus, and I will not practice. Okay, you will lose. I do not know how to meditate. No problem. Just practice, practice, practice. And that practice will change us, change from the worm to the wasp. And that is our path. Listening is good, reading is good, everything is good, but only with observing, being aware, and practicing, and trying to change ourselves, change to the better. What does it mean without all these thoughts, which make us weak and keep us stuck in one place?