Keep your promises
Saturday's powerful constellation brings both benefit and challenge, reflecting Śani's influence. A story tells of a guru carrying a watermelon that briefly appeared as a severed head due to this energy, illustrating its transformative power. To navigate such influences, one makes a lifelong vow, a saṅkalpa, like giving up a specific food. This principle of promise extends to sacred commitments like marriage, which are not to be abandoned. On Guru Pūrṇimā, all actions and karmas from the past year are offered to the guru. The relationship with one's guru is singular and foundational, like that with one's biological parents. The core practice is to surrender everything to this guiding source.
"A promise is not just saying yes or no to something. It is a promise. When we make a promise, we have to follow it."
"On Guru Pūrṇimā... I give all my karmas, my practice, Gurudev, to you. And what mistakes I made, I also give to you."
Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic
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Yoga is for the whole Earth
A story illustrates human kindness and the universal essence of yoga. A medical situation in India prompted an immediate and coordinated response from contacts in Austria, arranging care and transport. This demonstrated a system where care is provided without discrimination, solely based on shared humanity. The event highlights a principle: we must take care of humans. The current age, Kali Yuga, is marked by division and the ego's declaration of "I am the best." Yoga is the means to cleanse the mind, and it is for all life, not any single country or religion. Yogic postures are inspired by nature—trees and animals. We cannot correct others, only ourselves. The correction begins by affirming "I am human" and recognizing our connection to all.
"Yoga is life, for the whole earth."
"There was no one word, religion, in Satyuga, Dvāparayuga, Tretāyuga."
Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic
In the home of the soul
Space builds beings, and beings build space.
A true ashram is a space for retreat and contemplation, enabling renewal of physical, mental, and social health. It fosters balance and leads toward self-realization. Yoga is the paramount method for this, requiring only the body, breath, and consciousness. It is the science of conscious movement and stillness, a road to original wholeness. A Guru is one who has cognized oneness, from which all arises and returns. Such beings live for others. The relationship between guru and disciple is supreme, pure, and meaningful. The guru's essence is what he is—Sat Chit Ānanda—and he serves to cure the disease of ignorance, which divides us from ourselves, others, and the divine. Sādhanā, the practice of yoga, is the source of strength to help others and ourselves. Liberation comes through knowledge and the Guru's grace.
"Yoga is the science and art of conscious movement. It is the science and art of conscious stillness."
"The essence of a guru is not what he says, not even what he does. The essence of a guru is what he is."
Filming locations: Jadan Ashram, Rajasthan, India.
DVD 171
Christmas with Swamiji in Vienna
We celebrate the arrival of Jesus, a festival of peace, love, and unity. The world needs light, both physical and the divine light of wisdom within every being. Since organized religion began, division has followed, unlike the universal, indivisible consciousness of Sanātana Dharma. Human greed creates ownership and mental pollution, which is more dangerous than physical waste. Before a bomb destroys others, it destroys itself; similarly, negative thoughts first harm the one who holds them. We are called not to judge, but to forgive and to hate the sin, not the sinner. Modern celebrations have become materialistic and polluting, especially with single-use plastics, which now seem immortal. The true gift is non-material, offered openly without harmful packaging. Our spiritual duty is selfless service, to pass on immortal wisdom. A true disciple, like Jesus, endures suffering without abandoning principle to deliver a divine message. We must write and share immortal wisdom through devotion and trust.
"Forgive them; they do not know what they are doing."
"We hate the sin, but not the sinner."
Filming location: Vienna, Austria
Bhajans singing from Strilky
Devotion centers on the guru's feet as the ultimate refuge and source of grace. The seeker's entire spiritual journey is directed toward this sacred focus. All effort and aspiration culminate in surrender at this divine threshold. The feet represent the complete embodiment of the teacher's wisdom and compassion. They are the portal through which worldly attachment is severed. Approaching them requires reverence, patience, and a gentle, steady resolve. The grace flowing from them is the supreme gift that liberates the soul.
"The mind's sole attachment is to the guru's feet."
"Grace is the donation of the feet, the feet..."
Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic
