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Part 1: The Dungog Ashram and Yoga in Australia We are currently building an eco-centre in Dungog, Australia. It is situated about three hours from Sydney, in an area called the Hunter Valley. This is a very beautiful part of Australia, known as the wine region. The property consists of 640 acres of wild Australian bush. I am sure I have used the word "wild" in many stories that Swāmījī might have told you about Dungog. There has to be a certain amount of wildness in Śrī Devpurījī’s ashram. We are in the very early stages of our infrastructure on the property. We currently have a building about half the size of this hall, with similar retractable walls. We hope over the next few years to build a more solid structure, a kitchen area, and accommodation for visitors. Our aim is to make this eco-retreat resort—or ashram—one of the premier resorts in Australia. We are also building a large garden area to become sustainable and are raising funds for construction costs. We were very fortunate to have Swāmījī stay with us last year for about three weeks, which is pretty unheard of for him to be in one place for so long; we became like spoiled Europeans. So, we are aiming to build a very nice ashram so Swāmījī will come and stay a lot longer. One of the main attractions of the ashram is the wildness, the wilderness. We do have the occasional visit from a snake, but mostly kangaroos, lizards, and many types of wild birds. You are all very welcome to come to Australia. We have already had visitors from Europe, and I am sure they had good experiences. All have returned safely. So, if you can put it on your itinerary for your next overseas travel, we would be delighted to have you stay at Dungog Ashram. Also, if you have any spare cash lying around the house and wish to make a donation to Dungarh Ashram, I would not say no. Thank you very much. Satapuri, Pūrṇānanda, I didn’t tell you to talk about Dangong, but about Australia, about Yoga in Daily Life. How is it in Australia? You see, Chandra, come, this is the donation for the ashram. The general situation about Yoga in Daily Life in Australia, in many cities, the teachers, participants, and how much harmony they have among them. This is the main point. Chandra will tell us in general how yoga develops in Australia, how it develops in different cities, and how harmony prevails among them in all places where Yoga in Daily Life is present. Hari Om, everyone. I also live in Australia. You can stand up so everyone can see you. Who are you? Thank you. Introduce yourself and what is your position in Yoga in Daily Life? My name is Chandra, and for the last 13 years, I have been managing an ashram in Annandale, Sydney. Anandale in Sydney is the central ashram for Yoga in Daily Life in Australia. I am now also working for the ashram in the Hunter Valley area. We have ashrams and yoga centers in each capital city around Australia. Still, I don’t think there are as many bhaktas as in Europe, because you don’t see them all together. Australia is bigger than Europe, so it’s difficult for everyone to gather at once. The territory is very large, and it takes a lot of time to travel from one city to another. A lot of yoga is practiced in Australia; it is one of the countries where yoga is practiced the most. Health-conscious people are in Australia. You must keep the name of Australia high up. But when we come together, our yoga brothers and sisters have a very close connection. We work very well together as a team and always try to do our best. We feel very blessed when Swāmījī visits us once a year. Because we do not see him as much physically, we try very hard to develop our spirituality inside, and we cannot do this unless we work together. We try hard to organize many events to increase the exposure of Yoga in Daily Life in the community. We teach everywhere—from schools to prisons, to people with disabilities, children, and senior citizens. We try to teach as many classes as possible. It is very important for us to take yoga into the community and share its benefits with as many people as we can. Swāmījī asked me to talk about the harmony between our bhaktas. I know they would like me to say hello if they are watching. I don’t know what to say about this, except it’s just like here—there are many different personalities. But somehow, I think everybody tries very hard to rise above and work well together. If there is any problem, we speak about it. We feel very privileged and happy to be able to travel so far and be welcomed by all of you. We are always so happy when you make the journey the other way as well. Our biggest wish and joy is to make it very comfortable for Swāmījī to be able to come more and more to Australia. Thank you. And this is for Pūrṇānanda, because he spoke very little as a little boy. Our dear Pūrṇānanda and Chandra are very strong pillars for Yoga in Daily Life in Australia. The roots from them—Pūrṇānanda’s roots are from Ireland, and Chandra’s roots are from Slovenia. Here we are. As you know, the country Australia is a little bigger than Croatia. So it takes time to travel. If you go by car, it can take three or four days to cross the country. From Adelaide to Perth, to fly is nearly five hours by airplane. Beautiful country. It was my wish to go from Perth to Adelaide traveling with a caravan. So now I have time. No, because I am on pension. You are in the presence when the disciples develop, like Ānandī and Vivekpūrī, and are permanent, and they are all sitting here. Australians are very free thinkers and health-conscious. They have a tough life. Water for them also, and it’s a very beautiful country. Good. Today is the day of Śrī Gaṇeśjī, and Gaṇeśjī always brings happy news. So today we had Pūrṇānanda and Chandra. And so when Chandra is in Pūrṇimā, then everything is singing. So we have today here Sangeetā. Roots are from Novi Sad, and branches are spreading to the United Nations headquarters in New York. And when the branches are in the United Nations, it means over the whole globe. You know, we are preparing in two days the Day of Non-Violence, and we are working closely with the United Nations and one of the biggest NGOs, the Earth Charter. Sangeeta represents us in the United Nations. So she just came today, and perhaps she will give us some news firsthand. You know, that is the other guest, a pervert. Okay, so you don’t pronounce on G. How do you see me? It is very nice to see you all, and it was a special experience to be at the UN. It was my first time in America, and a special experience to see, from the balcony of the General Assembly, the whole world as one. I was twice in a General Assembly meeting where all states were there, and it is really a privilege that we can say that Yoga in Daily Life was observing and was in the same hall with all these people. But that gave another impression: that once you enter there, you are allowed to go there. Then, somehow, we should have a wish to spread into that hall that which Swāmījī taught us, that which we have from Swāmījī. Because she said it was very beautiful, and she will tell it also in our... language. To be present in the General Assembly of the United Nations, where all countries of the world meet, and when you understand that you represent Yoga in Daily Life, which has access there and observes all this from the balcony, then you have a desire to give to that hall what you have received from Swāmījī. You present your teacher in one way or another. Others present what they had from their masters who have passed away, and we have a living master, and we are not there. So it is a great pity that with this light we have, with this wisdom which is very rare, and we are allowed to go there, we do not represent our master. Those who are without a master are very active, and the voice of this wisdom, of this light, is not heard. Not because of somebody else, but because of us. We need to present the wisdom and knowledge of our teacher. We have a living teacher, we have a living light, and we are not active. Regarding Swāmījī’s activities, we know his wish is to spread. He is already such a famous phenomenon that he cannot be hidden. So he needs support, and we are those who can and who should support him. Many times it was told by Swāmījī that we need help, that we need many members. It is maybe just heard in seminars, but nothing was done. It is so obvious that there are many possibilities, but somehow we are not there because of us. It will be passed on to his students. We are the type of teacher whose mission is to spread the light and knowledge to the world. There are different teachers, and according to their activities, it can be seen that this is their desire. Swāmījī cannot spread the light alone. We are the type of teacher who needs to move others through their activities. We don’t do that. Međutim, that’s why this is just an occasion that I want to tell that we have Yoga in Daily Life Australia with consultative status at the UN. That means you can participate, you can be part of the UN. In January, we are waiting for the consultative status of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and the World Peace Council. We have Yoga Union, and with better organization, we can do a lot. We can really do a lot because others do not have so many or such a strong network, but we are not using this. We are really not using this. So, what we can do is through what we have. We have Australian Yoga in Daily Life, which has consultative status. The World Peace Council is expected to get consultative status. We have a union of children. And through this, there is a huge network that we simply don’t use. It is very poor that people need what Swāmījī has, and we don’t know how long we will be together. We really don’t know this, either we or Swāmījī with us. I think the world is in such a condition that it desperately needs any light, any wisdom. When you see, when you are there, there are people who need this, really. And we are there so that we can give. And you can give through your support. It was told that we need many signatures to have many members of the Śrīmad-Ānanda World Peace Council. I don’t know how many people signed this. This is just nothing for you. It’s just a signature that we can tell we have many members. And somehow we are just sitting. If each center can sign that it is a center, we can be stronger. This is really nothing, just a signature. But somehow we are not aware. If we translate our websites to introduce our countries, what is Swāmījī working on in India? For example, we submitted information about Jadan School, and immediately we were told to write about this in the UN Chronicle because people were inspired. We are not inspired enough because for us it is normal; it is just normal. So, what we can do without any excessive effort is to at least give our signature, so that we have more members in the Śrīmad World Peace Council, so that we can see that the organization is strong, so that all the centers are incorporated as members. We are simply not aware of that. If people from the United Nations were inspired by what they saw about Jadan, what should we do? You see, the world is more inspired by what is happening there than we are. Because it has become normal for us, but it is a great shame that we are the only ones who share it. Really, because in New York you can see yoga everywhere. In Times Square, you could see āsanas, bhuḌjangāsana. On every corner, there is something yoga, yoga... In this park, yoga. In that park, in book shops, you have yoga equipment. In dress stores, clothes for yoga. Yoga is everywhere, so it becomes a universal phenomenon. But I don’t know how many of us have a living master, and we should show this living master, how, through this, what Swāmījī tells us. Somehow we became owners of Swāmījī, and it is good, but why not the others? Why not? If we were so lucky that we came to Swāmījī, what about those who didn’t have that luck? When should Swāmījī come to them? It was our good karma, but what about people without this good karma? So, really, that would be really helpful. Because within these three months, we, with the help of Swāmī Jasrāj and Bhakti from Australia, took some first steps. We made a proposal for Jadan School. It was submitted to the Millennium Campaign Office. Then, the UN Chronicle asked us to write an article about this. It will be published now. Now, the whole world will be introduced to Swāmījī’s name, to Jadan’s school. So, somehow we should represent that which we have. If it is good for us, why shouldn’t it be good also for others? You should see the energy of people without a Master. For these three months only, some first steps have been taken, and that is that we have submitted a proposal, initiatives about mobile schools, which are presented by Svāmījī in Jadan. It is required from UN chronicles to be published as well, so that the whole UN, actually all the countries of the world, will be able to read about Swāmījī, to read what is happening in Jadan. Something to people, then what is the source of this which we should spread to others? And it is a pity if we will not promote Yoga in Daily Life. While we are together with Swāmījī, it’s really a pity not to be active. After his or our lives, you know, because now he can approach other people when he’s in this body, when he’s alive, when we are all alive. If now, for everyone’s life, for our lives, we don’t give the opportunity to others to feel the experience we have. Because what is good for us is good for others. And no one will do that except us. Signature, you got, or all your centers got this application form with your centers. It’s just to become a member, and with this, to translate your websites, translate into your local languages, to show your countries what to do. We have, you have, this all in websites. In that case, we should show that we are spreading world peace initiatives in the whole world, that we are spreading all these prayers, all these Swāmījī’s efforts, because others are also doing this, but they are somewhere. We are nowhere because we are not putting this. Who will know if we will not tell about this? Thank you, Sangeeta. Thank you, Swāmī. In New York, one organic svechke costs you half a dollar, one dollar, yes? It’s junk food. Do you remember yesterday I talked about junk food? Part 2: The Creative Power of Work: A Himalayan Sage's Lesson Do not be like junk food. Once, Gurujī gave an example. There was a sādhu living high in the Himalayas, at the border where vegetation ends and only glaciers, snow, and stones remain. He was engaged in his sādhānā, but one cannot sit and meditate all day long. The stomach looks for something, and the body needs movement, washing, and other things. He was very well-known. What was he doing to keep his mind always occupied? When the mind has no concrete work, it becomes restless and dominates us. Many mighty personalities have been defiled because of the mind. The mind needs very clear visions. You need a mentor who gives you a plan. Then, through your mind, body, and intellect, you should work out that plan. There is our thought, our thinking. When you sit somewhere in the forest or on the beach and observe a bird—a seagull, for instance—looking right, left, everywhere, a thought comes to that bird and it flies in that direction. Similarly, if a human gets a very clear thought and is capable of changing other unnecessary or nonsense thoughts, you can achieve. It doesn’t matter what; keep on working in that direction and you will achieve. This Swāmījī in the Himalayas used to make a beautiful hut with his own hands. No bricks, stones, cement, earth, iron nails, or wires. Everything was from nature: grass, dry tree branches, and so on. He would make a small hut, about three by three or three by two meters. When the hut was finished, he would spend one nice day inside it. The next day, he would begin to dismantle it and rebuild the same hut on another rocky site. It would take him one or two months. When the hut was finished again, he would rest for a day or two. Sitting in the hut, he would look at the view, wondering where the best place for it would be. In the morning, after meditation, āsana, and prāṇāyāma, he would begin to dismantle it and physically transfer all the materials himself. People came and asked him, "Master, why are you doing this? What should we learn from you? Should we also demolish our house and rebuild it? That would be very expensive for us." He said, "I want to show you with this that nothing is impossible. If you are creative, you can do anything. If you made a mistake, you can correct it. And you have to be busy until the last minutes of your life." On the day you think, "Now I am old and I cannot anymore," what we call in modern life a retired person—who is on pension—the psyche of that person changes entirely, even if he or she doesn’t want it to change. "I am now old, I am ill, sitting at home, all the time eating something." It is very dangerous to put chocolate near such a master. Wherever he looks, there is something. So, sitting at home, looking at television, having arguments if there is a partner... Then even the neighbors will ask, "Please, can you take care of our dog? We are going on holiday. Can you go to the market and bring this medicine for us?" Add your children, put your grandchildren—"Grandfather, please take care of this." So you feel bored again, and psychically you are going down. Working keeps you young, active, healthy—mentally and physically. Therefore, it is said: work, work, work, as expressed in one beautiful bhajan. That Swāmījī said, "Be active, be creative. Don’t wait for someone to give you work to do. Be ready; don’t refuse someone." It is easy to refuse, easy to say, "You can also do it," but difficult to help. Helping means working, physically or mentally. One Swāmījī said, "Puruṣārtha means work." Puruṣārtha means creative. Puruṣārtha means active. Puruṣārtha means discipline. Without work, you can’t get anything in this world except illness—mental and physical—and poverty. "Puruṣārtha binā, binā means without. Duniyā means the world. Duniyā znači svijet, and chīz means things. Pāve means to get. Pāve znači dobiti." So, without work you can’t get anything. The aims of human life are called dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa. Dharma is our responsibility, our duty. Dharma is the aim of our human life. We have to earn dharma. To earn that dharma, your body is the dharma temple. If you do something good, one will say "Dharma mūrti"—the embodiment of dharma. Artha means wealth. Wealth means wisdom. You become rich if you are wise and active. It’s not that you need university, higher and higher education. The higher education you have, the less interest you have to do anything else. That’s called high, high, high. You need motivation, and you must be stuck to your work. The wisdom, the knowledge, is that you do right and good with the heart, not that you are governing, but that you are working. Artha means wealth: physical, material, and spiritual wealth, karma. That all your wishes, desires, and ambitions are for doing good things. And mokṣa, liberation. Dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa—puruṣārtha—can only be realized if you do the puruṣārtha, the working. "Puruṣārtha hīna prāṇī sab kuśdeha kar hoyī." But who doesn’t work, who is lazy? That one is so jealous. If the neighbors have money, a new car, a new villa, if they are going on holidays, they are so jealous because they themselves don’t work, but the neighbors are working. Once an American, or perhaps an Australian, asked me a question: "Swāmījī, can you tell us the secret of Indians?" I said, "What?" He said, "You see, we are born here in America. My parents are working, we are working, but we still don’t have a proper flat to live in. Indians come from India, and in a few years they have a house." It’s true. You go through America; every Indian has a house. And you will see many Americans who cannot even afford one room. What are they doing? And what are Indians doing? Because Indians work properly. And they don’t go every day to eat junk food. They live with family at home. With a five-person family, you can have a good meal for ten dollars. If the five-person family goes to a restaurant, you have to pay about 150 dollars. It is different. When it is needed, you can use two matchsticks. But if with one matchstick you can light a candle, and with that candle you can light the chimney fire, make your agarbattī, light your prayer lamp, and light another candle... Otherwise, you take one matchstick for one candle, a second for another, and a third for the chimney. There are thirty matchsticks in one box. If you use five a day, how many days? Six days. If you use one stick per day, how many days? One month. That is called managing, maintaining, organizing, thinking. Not that you don’t use, you live a good life, but you know when, where, and how. The lazy one cannot do this. Who is active, creative, working? Nothing is impossible. Puruṣārthī means the active one, the creative one. Durlabha means nothing is impossible. Nākoī means nothing is impossible. Sulabha has, of course, everything available. Whatever you wish, you can have because you do good karma, you work, you are active. Those who think, "God will give me everything, God will do for me," are wasting their time. God said, "Why should I do for you? Girl, I gave you two legs, two hands, two ears, two beautiful eyes, two nostrils, one nose, a healthy body, a healthy brain. I gave you; I did it. Now, at least you should be self-supporting, work. You will have everything." So those who are only saying, "God will do everything," are just wasting time. In Vedānta, in the Vedas, the goddess means work, creativity. That is divine energy, the power within you. Devatā means, deva means puruṣārtha. If you work, then you will get siddhi. Without puruṣārtha, no one can get anything. So, being active and creative is very important. For example, Saṅgītā was giving us good information. If I were to say that you have a living master, that would be my ego, because I am also a disciple. But you should know what you have. What we have, many don’t have. That Siddha Pīṭha that we have—therefore we can try and work in a good way. But you need coordination. When you are eating, you can also eat with both hands and with closed eyes, because both hands are together, coordinated. You are driving a car; both hands are coordinating. Otherwise, the right hand pulls this side and the left pulls that side—accident. Your car will not go anymore. So first, get communication. And for communication, sometimes you have to put your ego in the tenth or eighth level of the basement, from here to mūlādhāra, to sleep. Communication is missing. Forgiveness is missing. Understanding is missing. Ego is strong. And that is the problem with all of you. If we are very nice to each other and if you see everyone as yourself, you will be one of the greatest loving persons. But we can’t. Simply, we don’t understand. The boundary is in the human brain: "They are Slovenians, they are Croatians, they are Italians, they are Swiss, they are German." What is that? We are human. We are brothers and sisters. We are the children of one God, and we are the disciples of one Master. What do you want now? More? Why are you fighting? No, you have your ego. I said to him, "No." Others said, "Oh, please, no." Then the person goes away, and you think, "No." And who is doing like this? It was my ego. Without asking, if you can give, that is greatness. Don’t wait for someone to ask you, "Can I have this?" When you have two chocolate candies with you and someone comes and asks, "Please, can you tell me the address of this hotel?" and you say, "Yes, it’s there and there," and the person looks at the candy and again, once more, looks at it... Now, you should understand psychologically. Before a person has to say it, you should say, "Please help yourself, take one. Please take one. Thank you, that’s it." There, you get communication. You offer only one chocolate this morning, but who knows what that person will give you back, or revert with something? Maybe a hundred times more than this chocolate. That’s it. So, it is time to harvest what we have planted. As Saṅgītā said, Kabīr Dās said in one of his bhajans about a farmer. The farmer was working very hard and planted beautiful sunflowers. When the flowers were ready to be harvested, he went swimming, then to parties, and then on a ten-day holiday. When he came back, all the birds had eaten his crops. Now he is crying. Kabīr Dās said, "My brother, you didn’t guard your field, that’s why the birds have eaten all your crops. Now there is nothing to harvest, but it also doesn’t help you to cry. Cry on whom? On your laziness." So we have a rich wisdom of Mahāprabhujī and Dev Mahāprabhujī, Holī Gurujī, Devpurījī’s divine miracles. If one thinks in the world what God can do, or what can happen in the presence of God, that was happening in the presence of Devpurījī Mahāprabhujī. Devapurījī could just walk on the water, and we can’t even swim properly. That’s it. He could go through the rock without making a hole in it. Suddenly, he would be on the other side of the rock, and many, many things. He would just appear from the wind. At the same time, in many, many places—not through television; that time there was no television and no webcast. Now, I am maybe in how many countries? A minimum of 150 countries are looking. But this is technology. This technology is developed from those siddhis’ thoughts. So, our Siddhapīṭha and all our successors of the Siddhapīṭha are very disciplined, very great, and we should work for that. It is said, "Whatever you have eaten is finished. But whatever you have given, that is truth." Otherwise, when you die and they put your body on the earth, all your property is in someone’s hand. Then this beautiful work which you are doing will be just lost. So we have to understand. We have to present now, represent Yoga in Daily Life. And that Siddhāpīṭha has the Gurujī’s work and the World Peace Council. So we have many good opportunities, and you have the opportunity to act. So, it would be good if we could support our dear Saṅgītā more, and if some of you could work with her. Everyone should print out some forms and get the signatures of your friends, family members, and yourself, to show that we are so many supporting members for world peace. Many people don’t understand why Swāmījī is doing so many things—"just do āsanas, prāṇāyāma, sādhānā." But you know, the world needs many different things now. We need... you are not living only for you; you are living for all. That’s it. So, our being here in this world has a great meaning, and we should act accordingly. Say to those persons whom you don’t like, say and say, "I’m sorry, please." Be truthful, like that man whom I told you about—I gave you an example from Maribor yesterday. He told me this story about thirty-six, thirty-eight years ago. He said when he was about ten or fifteen years old, he stole corn from the neighbor’s garden and brought it to his grandmother. His grandmother told him nicely, "Now go and tell the neighbors, ‘I’m sorry, here is your corn because I stole it.’" That boy said that at the time, he was feeling like he had died. But grandmother said, "You go; you will see what happens." He went, and the neighbor said, "Aha. Okay, my child, no problem. Take two, three more." If you go to that person whom you don’t like and say, "I’m sorry, it is my ego," that person will tell you, "No, no, no. It’s my stupidity." You see? Both speak truth. And they unite in one day, so two truths become one truth. That’s it. So we should do something. I wanted to speak about Trāṭak, and again the subject developed. But I think this was good. We have this one-day prayer and the thoughts on the Non-Violence Day, the 2nd of October, and we are preparing. And you know, mentally also you can do violence. On that day, the 2nd of October, all your mental tensions, if you are against anyone, just let them go in the air. Hurry home. You will be the happiest person in the world. It was not easy for Mahatma Gandhi to be like this. It was not easy for him to go without anything in front of the army, where they had an order, but he went. He said, "No, I will not take a weapon in my hands. I will fight with that right, that I love you. I need my home, and you need your home." That’s it. At the same time, there was Subhash Chandra Bose. He said, "When I go with my self-confidence and love, still there is no factory which has produced the bullet which can go into my heart, or which can break a hole in my chest." Such a torch of love. My God, we can change. Rocks can begin to melt. Then you will see, you will sleep very well, very happy, very relaxed. So, today, that’s enough. Now for you, the disco is on, Raditya.