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The Greatest Sādhana

A spiritual discourse on the supreme value of selfless service.

"Nothing is greater and more joyful... in the entire universe, neither moksha, nor heaven, nor the wealth of the entire world, than to serve Thee, my Lord."

"To serve God or to serve me means to serve all creatures... To help them means to help God."

The speaker recounts a profound story where his Guruji, when offered any boon by his master Mahaprabhuji, asked only for the opportunity to serve him in every life. Using this and other examples, the speaker elaborates on the principle that serving all beings is the greatest spiritual practice (sadhana), explaining that true service recognizes the divine in all creation and is directed most meaningfully to those in need. He critiques spiritual ambition, societal hypocrisy regarding wealth and poverty, and the ignorance that devalues any part of God's creation.

One day, Gurujī recounted that it was around noon. He was sitting outside the āshram, working at a sewing machine to make a shirt for Mahāprabhujī. Suddenly, Mahāprabhujī came out from his small room and called Gurujī's name. Gurujī went to him. Gurujī said he saw Mahāprabhujī completely full of love. Only he could see that—yes, it was Mahāprabhujī, that was all. When Mahāprabhujī spoke, light emanated from him. There was a feeling of joy. Mahāprabhujī asked Gurujī, "What do you wish? Ask, whatever you want, I will fulfill it now." With folded hands, Gurujī said, "Yes, in my every life, to serve you." My Prabhupāda just smiled, the light disappeared, and he turned back. One could have asked for something more. So Holy Gurujī said again, "Nothing is greater and more joyful—Nic není většího, nic není radostnějšího—in the entire universe, neither mokṣa, nor heaven, nor the wealth of the entire world, than to serve Thee, my Lord." What would you say to him? I could have asked, "Please, I want my Kuṇḍalinī," or, "I want to have the ability so that people come and ask, 'Can you touch my head and make my kuṇḍalinī go up?'" Paramahaṁsa Rāmakṛṣṇa placed his hand on the head of Swāmī Vivekānanda, and Vivekānanda entered into samādhi. "Can you do that for me, please?" These are ambitions. You must understand, that was Vivekānanda. You have to become Vivekānanda first, then that can happen. Paramahaṁsa Rāmakṛṣṇa placed his hand on millions of people's heads; why didn't they attain samādhi? From the day Gurujī told this story—we were sitting very peacefully somewhere—Gurujī was remembering Mahāprabhujī and was full of tears. So I came to know that helping, sloužit je největší sādhanā (to serve is the greatest sādhana). That is why Gurujī writes in his Līlā Amṛt that when he received Sannyās Dīkṣā, Mahāprabhujī said, "To serve God or to serve me means to serve all creatures." All humans and all creatures. So, to help all creatures, to love them, means to love God. To help them means to help God. To serve them means to serve God. Have you seen God? If we see Kṛṣṇa in a picture, Rāma in a picture, Buddha in a picture, Jesus in a picture, Mahāprabhujī in a picture—how do you imagine God? He is everywhere. There is only one God who has created the entire world and universe. We know how old the planet is, how many times He has come to this planet, and He will come again. There is only one Creator. If He is the creator of all, then He is the father of all, and all are His children; we are all His sons and daughters. And He loves equally, whether humans, birds, or other animals. Parents love their children equally, however they are—intelligent or a little dull, visible or able—we love them. So, God doesn't love only. When it rains, it doesn't rain only for our bread. If we think that God brings rain because we need bread and fruits and such, then our thinking is like that of a crow sitting on the peak of a church, feeling very proud that all who are praying in the church are praying to me. The crow doesn't know that we are praying to Jesus, or in the temples of Kṛṣṇa, to Śiva, to Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, humans think that God is only doing things for us. What ignorance! We are learned people, academic people. We should think logically. Therefore, helping. Now, that help has more value where it is needed. If you give food to the hungry one, it is more useful. If you give a hand to a blind person to lead and show the way, it is more helpful than giving a hand to someone who will take you from here and kidnap you. So, help the poor one. Help the meek one. The consciousness of helping, the quality of helping, is greater in poor people because they understand life's situation. The richer you get, the more you forget the poor; you remember only your money and how to multiply it. If I can remember, it is said that people were exchanging money in front of the temple, and Jesus said to them, "Don't believe these gods," meaning this gold, this money, this richness. God is different. And this was said already ten thousand years before, at the time of the Rāmāyaṇa, in Abba's time, you know. In Kali Yuga, money will be God, and people will adore money. So, if you are very rich, they will say, "Yes, sir, please, welcome, sir, please come. Hello." Always the first place. But if a very poor person comes to ask you for a coat because it is very cold, or for some little thing, we will say, "Wait, please." We don't say, "Yes, sir, come in, please." The word "sir" is lost. So, do we put this "sir" for the money, for social position, or for a human? That's it. For Śiva, there should be no differences. Therefore, I say that where help is needed, argument is not needed. It doesn't matter from which country we are, from which religion, which culture, which age—animals or humans, or our vegetation or the rivers. Don't say, "We don't want these people from this country. It's good, you know. Karma came back, let them suffer." Unfortunately, there are people who think this way. I was driving from Vancouver, Canada, to Seattle, USA, America, long ago—twelve, thirteen, fifteen years. We made a little break somewhere to drink tea. Someone had placed a pot with sugar water to catch wasps. I said, "They will die. Catch them in a net and free them in the forest." The reply was, "No, sir, these beasts, they are born to die. They are born to be destroyed." What should I answer? When people have such an opinion towards God's creation, then where is your spiritual consciousness, my dear? People even have such feelings towards humans. Otherwise, the things happening today in the world would not happen, and that is a sign of ignorance. We shall love, we shall protect—and, of course, protect ourselves too. Don't give the chance that you are harmed. We should know the way how to serve. We love the tiger, but that does not mean we go and embrace it, saying, "I love you, tiger." He will say, "Yes, I also love you," meaning your very fresh, warm blood. "I love this." So, we keep a respectful distance. I do the same with humans: distance. If we think positive and good for people, that is enough.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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