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Part 1: The Guru: The Embodiment and Guide to Inner Peace Sadāśiva samārambhaṁ Śaṅkarācārya madhyamām asmadācārya paryantāṁ vande guru-paramparām. Gurur Brahmā, Gurur Viṣṇu, Gurur Devo Maheśvarāḥ, Gurur sākṣāt Parabrahma, tasmai Śrī Gurave Namaḥ. Mananātha Śrī Jagannātha, Madguru Śrī Jagadguru. Māmatmā, Sarva, Bhūtātmā, Tasmai Śrī Guruve Namaḥ. Oṁ Śalāk Purjī Mahādev Kī Jai. Devād Dev Deveśvar Mahādev Kī Jai. Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Jai. Hindu Dharm Samrāra Paramahaṃsa Svāmī Śrī Madhavān Ānand Purjī Sadgurudev Bhagavān Kī Jai. Viśva Guru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁsa Svāmī Śrī Māheśvara Ānanda Purījī Gurudeva Kī Jai. Salutations to the Cosmic Self. Salutations to Śālak Purījī Siddhī Pīṭa Paramparā Madana. Praṇāms to our Beloved Gurudev, His Holiness Viśva Guru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Māheśvara Ānanda Purī Jī. Oṁ Namo Nārāyaṇa to all the sannyāsīs present here, which are the majority of you. Hari Oṁ, and good evening to all of you who are present here. Guruṁ Brahmā, Guruṁ Viṣṇu, Guruṁ Devo Maheśvara. That is what we always sing. Guru is Brahmā, Guru is Viṣṇu, Guru is Maheśa. The full form of God—G-O-D—is explained by Gurudev: 'G' for Generator, which is Brahmā; 'O' for Operator, which is Viṣṇu; and 'D' for Destroyer, which is Śiva. When we sing "Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu, Guru Devo Maheśvara," we affirm that the Guru holds all these qualities; he is the embodiment of the divine trinity and is even higher. That is why we subsume all forms into the Guru. The śāstras instruct that when we are standing in a temple having darśan of the deity—be it in a Śiva temple or any other—our concentration should remain fixed. At that moment, if any sādhu arrives, we should not break our darśan to go and offer praṇāms. To do so is considered a significant error. However, there is one sole exception: if your Guru walks into that temple while you are having darśan. Lord Viṣṇu, Lord Śiva, Lord Kṛṣṇa—all have said that the only exemption to leave the line or the darśan is to first go and offer daṇḍot praṇām to the Guru, who is higher. For any other saint, you may acknowledge them from where you stand and then continue your pūjā, offering proper praṇāms only after you are finished. Consider the name "Rāmeśvara." It has two meanings. It can mean "the God of Rāma," or "the one whom Rāma worships." That is why one of the Jyotirliṅgas in South India is Rāmeśvara, where Lord Rāma worshipped Lord Śiva. So, is the one praised by Rāma higher, or is the one who is Rāma higher? Viṣṇu and Śiva themselves debate this. But for us, the highest is where all three—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśa—reside as one aspect. That highest is our Śrī Satguru Dev. No form, deity, or being is higher. This is why we sing it in our prayers. Even when the gods themselves incarnated, they too needed a Guru to teach humanity. That is why we have satsaṅg. Satsaṅg is not necessarily for learning something entirely new; it is a way to refresh the knowledge we already possess. Everything we discuss, all that you have heard from Gurudev—there is nothing new you will learn. It is a refreshment, much like in schools and colleges where a chapter is taught and then repeated for a week until it is known. Similarly, any knowledge that enters our ears does not need to be new; it can be a refresher, yet it still has an effect on us. This is why regular satsaṅgs are held in ashrams. We have long days filled with work and myriad tasks, but we end the day with something divine, something that remains with us. Everything else shall depart—all emotions, all events. But the knowledge, the teachings, the bhajans, the name of the Lord, the mālā, the mantra—these stay with us for long-term peace. We talk about peace, inner peace and outer peace. This is the topic for which you are all welcome, and it is the very topic we will address at the Interfaith Conference in London on the 28th. We try to find peace in family, amongst each other, and around us. But the main peace we seek, the peace we are searching for everywhere, is already within us. It is merely obscured by layer upon layer of other things that prevent us from realizing it. "Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi"—"I am Brahman." This, from the Upaniṣads, teaches us that what we seek is already inside us, but we do not realize, notice, or see it. It is not a matter of physical vision but of inner vision. Our mind is so cluttered that it hides this realization from us. The shift occurs when we move from "I" to "thy." There is a famous bhajan about Swāmījī that speaks of this "thy." When we shift from "I" to "thy," we shift from merely living our normal lives to realizing that which is already within us. This is only realized when we go within ourselves. Once we find that inner peace and realize it, we will know what it truly is. That is the shift from our normal day-to-day life onto the path toward realization. Our ultimate goal is mokṣa, self-realization. We need to realize ourselves. The help and guidance will always come from Gurudev, but the work must be done by us. He will show us the path and guide us, but the legs that move are ours. The Śāstra says: "Do not walk in front of the Guru, do not walk behind the Guru, do not walk on the right, do not walk on the left." What does this mean? Should we walk diagonally? No. It means: walk the path which the Guru shows you, for that is the right path. No other path is right. The guidance comes from him, but the Guru is not going to hold our hand and drag us forcefully onto a path we do not wish to take. That is why Gurujī spoke of the fourth Kṛpā: Khudkī Kṛpā, our own grace. When we realize that by ourselves, we progress on the path. The guidance and Kripa of Gurudev will always be there, but the effort must be ours. Knowledge in schools is given by teachers, but the exams are written by us. The marks we get are in our hands. All the tools are given. The Bhagavad Gītā, the Rāmāyaṇa, and all scriptures should be read not merely because they are old, but because each contains teachings valuable for all generations. It does not matter your age or lifestyle; this divine knowledge is useful throughout our lives and for generations to come. Kṛṣṇa did not force Arjuna to go to war. He told him to realize himself, realize his value, realize the enemies, and act according to dharma. Kṛṣṇa could have finished the Mahābhārata in a second, but he did not. In the same way, the Guru is our Kṛṣṇa, showing us that vast form and revealing reality. He could enlighten us with a touch, or even without a touch—with just a look. But he will still make us work and progress on the path ourselves. Life is not a piece of cake where we simply sit and become enlightened. Niranjan has been doing Ghanāṣṭan for thirty-five or thirty-six years. He has had certain realizations, yet he is still sitting here. The kṛpā is there, the movement is there, progress is there, but it is not an instantaneous journey. When he started on the first day, he did not realize it would take time. It takes time, just as the Guru treats us. We are like a metal slab that must be heated to a very high temperature. What emerges from that heat depends on the process. Then you are hammered until the Guru brings you into the proper shape. That shape must be given. If the treatment is not done properly—if the sword is not heated, treated, and cooled correctly—it will break. In the same way, this body, this ātmā, is for us to realize that it is not who we truly are. The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad gives a beautiful example: two birds sit on the same tree, on the same branch. One eats the fruits, while the second simply sits and observes. The Upaniṣad teaches that the second bird, the witness, is us. We are not the doer; the doer is something else. We are merely the witness. What happens is not in our control. What we are doing is not truly us. When we realize that we are just the witness, we become the living embodiment of the teachings. We ask: Who am I? From where did I originate? What is my purpose here? This "me, myself, and I." When we move past that and realize this is just the body, these are just clothes in a wardrobe. We open our closet and have many different clothes. When we change clothes, the Ātmā similarly changes garments. This body is not permanent; it is naśvara, meaning it will perish. Our emotions will go, our ups and downs will go. It is also said that when we close our heart to one person, we close that door towards God or the Guru as well. When you start loving yourself, when you start loving everyone around you, when you start loving nature and everything, then that door opens. Love, unity, peace—these are all words. One person asked a saint, "Gurujī, I have been practicing for 20, 30, 35 years, but I still get angry. What should I do?" The saint replied, "You see, this is the result of 35 years of practice. If you were not practicing, you would already be throwing stones at me." So, even with decades of practice, we may still find ourselves shouting, screaming, and fighting. Without any spiritual practice, we would be like Rākṣasas. The outer world is full of Rākṣasas. We think we have no enemies, but our biggest enemies are ourselves. The inner enemies kill us first, then the outer enemies. First, we must work on our own inner enemies; then we can address the outer ones. Until we believe in ourselves, we can do nothing, for we feel we are not strong enough, not capable enough, not enough. We always want more, or we believe we are less than we are. But when we understand that we are more than enough, that we are the best version of ourselves and can only progress further, it helps our long-term goal. For that, we need to realize we are okay, be satisfied and content with what we have. Yet we are not content. We always want more and more because it is our human nature. That nature does not need to be changed, but we can have more and more bhakti, more love, more unity, more spirituality. Instead, we run behind more and more māyā, more māyā jañjal—the spider web that will never be enough. If we are happy and content with what we have and how things are going, we will be happy. We will realize that what we have is sufficient to live. There was a saint who lived in a beautiful hut made of grass. One night, a thief came while the Gurujī was out. When the saint returned, he said, "Oh, welcome. How nice of you to come see me. You are not scared? You are not shocked?" The thief asked, "Why should I be?" The saint replied, "You obviously needed something. That is why you came so late at night. But unfortunately, I do not have anything." The saint slept on a kuśa grass mat; he had his mālā and a shawl. He said, "It is cold outside. Here, I give you my shawl." Many years later, the same person returned, not as a thief but as a dedicated follower. He said, "Gurujī, you changed something inside me that day. Did I give you anything?" The saint answered, "Yes, the light." That is what the Guru does. He does not look at our background. When we apply for a visa or a passport, they conduct background checks and police verifications. But when you come to the Guru's lotus feet, there is no background check. There is no "Who are you? Where are you from? What was your past?" It does not matter. We are that same flame. Gurudev includes us and gives that knowledge, that light, to all of us equally. We preserve that light and forward it to others. The light came from the same source. The light lit within each of us is the same light—the light of the paramparā, the light of Gurudev, given to us to continue and take forward. We must not withdraw, close off, or blow out that light. That light cannot be blown out, though the oil may diminish and the flame may grow low. Even when we feel there is nothing, and everything seems faulty, and even after ten years if you realize that leaving was not the smartest idea and you return—you are welcomed with open arms. He never cuts you off; he never closes you off. If there is sometimes strictness, or love, or some perceived imbalance, it is because of our own state. The Guru is the mirror of ourselves. When we go to him, he must teach us and put us through that fire, through that hammering, for us to grow and succeed. That is not bad for us; it is good. It does not matter how much hammering we get. Sometimes, if there is too much love, the necessary hammering is not possible. Then he may send us to Viśvakarmājī. When I was younger, he could not do that hammering himself, so he sent me to Vishvakarmājī, and there I got double the hammering. Now, many years later—after 2013, so twelve years later—I realize that perhaps it was not the worst idea. When we are going through that period, we ask, "Why did he do this to me? Why did he send me here? Why must I go through this?" We have brilliant ideas to do something stupid, to run away here and there. But later we realize that whatever fire we went through at that time was ultimately beneficial for the long term. Through it, we learn many things. We grow stronger in life, and then the small things happening around us no longer affect us. Part 2: The Hammering Phase Why? Because we cross that hammering part, and then everything else feels not so bad. That is why, if that phase comes to us, just know that it is a phase, and that phase shall also pass. So that hammering period is necessary. Perhaps the situation we are living through right now might feel like a hammering phase, but there is always a reason for what is happening, why it is happening, and in which way it is happening. Why we are here, we do not know. How long we will be here, we do not know. But as long as we are here, we live it with dharma, with our duties, with our guru kṛpā. Then everything goes smoothly. How it goes is in his hands. Some people call it a transition period, some people call it chaos, a madhouse. It is a combination of all, because we are so used—or, I would not say attached; we all are attached to Gurudev—but we are so used to getting every single little instruction from Gurudev himself, that now this period feels like we are lost. "Close this door. The kitchen door should be closed." Or, "This color of paint should be done on this wall." In Dovamāśram, Sudarśanjī and Yogājī know how many times they were breaking and rebuilding the mushroom, just because of some certain changes and new brilliant ideas. But why? Because of perfection. If all mushroom, he would just make it in one go. I think all mushroom would be ready much sooner. But because of breaking that same wall three times and rebuilding that same wall three times, which made absolutely zero sense for them, but obviously there were certain reasons. Because he is three colors, not us. He knows why he is doing what he is doing. He is doing it just to make us aware and burn our inner ego, or burn our anger, or burn whatever. He knows why he is doing it. Let him do it. But we can take it as a test: if we can manage and go and cross that fire, or if we give up. What we do with it is in our hands, but he will put us through it. Now, even when he is silent, it does not mean he can be silent and say absolutely nothing. He is still observing everything; he still notices things; he still sees. He knows what is going on internally for me. I take it in a way as simple as that. He is looking at us. He is seeing what mess we can do now, because he taught us enough. He taught us a lot of viveka. Everything he was teaching us, and now he is sitting and just looking: what are we doing? How are we doing it? What will be the workflow? Because now, still, there can be corrections made. So he is observing, he is seeing: what I taught doesn’t really go in their heads, or whatever I taught, all… my life goes from one ear and out the second one. See, that is why God gave us two ears: to put information in and throw it out here. But then He gave us also buddhi and viveka in the middle, so information goes in, then circles around, then the good things we keep, and the useless things we withdraw. But sometimes we make a direct passage, like, you know, when there is a boring class in school, you just put it here, in and out. Not advising you kids who are watching, take all information in. We are not the best example for, um, schooling education, but yeah. There are two types of knowledge, as we are on the topic of knowledge. One knowledge is the worldly knowledge, where we learn all about physics and biology and chemistry and maths and all these things, which are kind of useful for you, are all kind of useless for me, or at least I feel so, because I am not going to use chemistry and biology and physics in my day-to-day life. But still, it is good to have that knowledge; it may be useful sometimes. Ganesh Raji did what? Which type of physics? Physics, quantum physics, or some physics he did. But now he is Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara and teaching Sanskrit, so yeah, but still. The second type of knowledge, which is most important for us, is the spiritual knowledge. That spiritual knowledge is the knowledge which helps us grow in our day-to-day life. The worldly knowledge gives us the knowledge, and the knowledge… that which is not in the worldly knowledge is gained by spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge, even if we do not read everyday books and śāstras and Bhagavad-gītā and this and that, it also can come by closing our eyes and believing and having that faith. Faith is important. Faith is also a pillar for us that holds us on to something. We have faith in Gurudev, we have faith in God, we have faith in this, we have faith in that. Why? Because without faith, without bhakti, without devotion, it is like we are idolizing or worshipping something that we do not know. But if we have faith in it, even with faith, and even with that itch, with that itch, wish—even with the wish of having something or gaining something—will help us and speed the process. Because one thing is just blindly doing something, and one is that we know and have the faith and the devotion towards Gurudev or towards our masters, that we know that we are just the puppets, and what is happening is not in our hand. But for that we need to surrender, but there is always a "but." We love "buts." There is always a "but" in everything: "I will do this, but not this"; "This will happen, but not this." When we remove the "buts" and put them on Gurudev’s lotus feet and say, "Gurudev, whatever you do, I am okay with it." Even though maybe we are not completely okay with it, but even when we do the initiative of starting to be okay with things as they flow, then it will flow in the right way. But for that, you need faith for that, you need devotion for that, we need surrender for that. We need to believe in something, and that something for us is our Gurudev, because for us, he is the ultimate, omnipresent, everlasting, omniscient Paramahaṁsa. Everything, basically. That is why Gurudev is known as Viśvaguru. There are many Mahāmaṇḍaleśvaras, there are many Śaṅkarācāryas, there are many of this, but Viśvaguru, why? Because he is the one who united the whole world, who brought back all this. Nowadays, there may be many gurus, many spiritual leaders, but the Sadguru—there are many gurus, but a Sadguru is a rare gem which you cannot find. And when we did find, actually, we did not find him; he found all of us. But when you become one with that and merge into that guru tattva and realize that, then we are in Paramahaṁsa, because he is the one who gives us that ultimate bliss, that ultimate happiness, that ultimate joy, peace, everything he gives us. How does he give to us? We do not know, and we do not need to know. What do we get from him? We do not know, we do not need to know. When we realize that, well and good. If we do not realize that, hopefully we realize that. But we need to work on ourselves. It does not matter what is happening around us, there is always going to be destruction. You cannot run away from that. You meditate, we do our mālā. While doing our mālās, a hundred thoughts come, you know? There are 108 beads and 108 thoughts in one mālā. "What if this will happen?" Second bead. "I think I should do this." Third bead. "Oh, I am going to London soon. What will I do there?" Fourth bead. Slowly, slowly… then we learn how to control those thoughts, and then we could become thoughtless. And by experience, I am telling you, being without thoughts is the most amazing feeling you can have. People ask me, "What are you thinking about?" Absolutely nothing. Nothing? Nothing. "Do you feel anything?" Some people call it, "You are a rock or a robot." I call it not that. I call it, "I am happy with peace." And there is a lot of peace when you do not feel, or I would not say you should not feel. You should feel still, because feelings are important. Without feelings, things do not function. But no expectations—that I worked a lot on, and now it is good, happily, thankfully. When you do not have expectations, you cannot be upset, and you cannot be happy with things. If something comes in your life, well and good. Something does not happen in your life, well and good. But if you expect something to happen and it does not happen, then you become angry, you become sad. So why be over joyous and over sad? If you are neutral, best if you do not imagine things. The worst part is, you know, we are imagining that this will happen. You know, now I am going tomorrow night, day after tomorrow, soon in three days or whatever. When I go, then what will I do? How will be the flight? How long will be the flight? When I land, what will I do? Where will I take this? All will be organized. When holy Gurujī was going in the train to Gujarat or somewhere, "My property has… Do you need anything, Gurujī?" He said, "I do not need anything, because I have your blessings, and whatever I will need, you will always provide." So when we have that faith, then we will know that wherever we go in our life and whatever we do in our life, we have that faith, and we know that he will provide. He will not let us starve, he will not let us die, and he will not let us down. But for that, we need to surrender. And without thoughts, it is the best peace you can imagine, what you want to dream about. And you dream about that. Sometimes you do not dream, but nightmares do not exist because there are no thoughts, and it is much more peaceful. So try to find that peace, and once you find that peace, then you will realize that you do not need outer happiness or outer peace. When you have inner peace—I do not know if I have inner peace or not, but I am sure that I do not have thoughts. So, one step, it is good, it seriously is good. You do not need to think about anything. How do you achieve that? I have absolutely zero clue how I did it, but it works for me, so I hope that you find that something. But that is all possible with kṛpā, with the devotion and surrender. That is the only thing that I follow. A lot of āsanas and prāṇāyāma, yes, Gurudev gave the beautiful system of yoga in daily life, but for me, I have faith in him, I believe in him, I trust in him, and I surrender myself to him. And for me, that is enough. What comes, comes; what goes, goes. No problem. Mālā, the most important gift which I can get is his mālā. I got that. No need of anything, sitting 10 hours a day. This is constant, and mālā also is not necessary when once it goes ajapa. But mālā is there because otherwise we will go, "Yes, yes, ajapa," but we are on our phones, and yes, yes, mantra is going on, but this is reminding us of each mantra and making us feel it, think it, and live with that. You saw Gurujī, he could talk to you, do anything, and still the mālā was rotating. Why? Because it is ajapa. But still, even though it was ajapa, he still had his mālā bead going on. That is the biggest gift you can get from Gurudev: your mālā, your mantra. Follow that, and all the rest will be flowing automatically. Go with the flow, no planning is best. You see, no planning. Do not plan your tickets for going back, no nothing. When will you go back? They do not know best. That is why there should not be any planning. People say, "Oh, we need to know something." You know, Saṃjī had a whole year of plan. Yeah, that was Saṃjī. I do not have any plans. We go with the flow. We will see where life takes us, where the journey takes us, and we go like that. Somewhat, a few months of planning is needed sometimes, but personally, if that plan also does not work, I am okay with that. If that plan works, I am also okay with that. Expectations are not needed in life, because when we expect, then there are 100 more chaos going on in our brain, and we do not need that. Just become one with Gurudev, feel that energy, and unite yourself with that Guru Tattva, and all is sorted. Then nothing else is needed. Another hut. There was another hut, and there was another sādhu living in that hut, and they were very beautiful, thank you, beautiful kids who wanted to play a prank. So they lit fire on that hut. The villagers ran, "Gurujī, your hut is burning!" "Not my hut." "How come you are not worried about it?" Because it is not mine. Nothing is ours. If this body is not ours, then what we are wearing, what we possess, nothing will go with us. In the bhajan we sing, what? "Mahal kutumb, mahal kajana, sabi yeh reja vere." All this, your family, your palace, your money, everything will stay here. Nothing will go with you. The only thing which goes with is the mantra, japa, and the bhakti which we did. Nothing else will go with. So, if nothing is ours, when we realize that this hut which is burning is not ours, in our life also, same, that fire is there. It is burning. We feel that everything is burning around us, but we should not be affected by that. What is burning? If you are affected by what is burning, then we are involving ourselves. But we are not involving ourselves because we are just a witness. If something is burning around us, let it burn. Can we rescue it? No, because it is not ours. I mean, in the literal world, if something is burning and you see, you are in the kitchen on fire or a gas cylinder exploding or something, yes, please go and put the fire off. And talking about the more spiritual aspect of things burning around us, we live in that constant burning. So let things burn, just observe them. That, too, shall pass. Nothing is permanent. Happiness will come and go, and sadness will come and go, and worries will come and go. Everything will come and go. It is all clouds. Sometimes the sky is blue, sometimes the sky is black, sometimes the sky is white. It depends on the intensity, depends on the quantity of the clouds. How many clouds are there? No problem, but all clouds will pass. The thunderstorm can last maybe a night, and then that will also pass. If it is normal passing clouds, that is also there. But the problem with us humans is, happy moments are there, we are more worried about the future. We are more worried: what will happen after this period ends? Instead of living in the moment, instead of enjoying that present time and enjoying that happiness, we are more worried about what will come. And when that happiness goes and that sadness comes, then we are not thinking, "When will this pass, and good moments come now?" Then we are getting more and more, deeper and deeper, into that same mess of sadness which we are going through. But when there is no expectations, when you do not have these things anymore, then you are not worried about it. Good moments come and go, and bad moments come and go. For us, it is what is said in satsaṅg with the saints, in the presence of the saint where there is satsaṅg going on. For us, every day is Dīvālī. Diwali in India is a celebration which we celebrate, so for us every day is Diwali. Every day is a new day. Every day is… that is why Gurudev always said, when you wake up, make praṇām to the earth. Thank them for a new day because we do not know how long this life is; it takes a millisecond to go. So every morning, when you again wake up, when you again open your eyes, remember that: thank you, God; thank you, Gurudev; thank you for everything; thank you for this life. Thank you for me being still here, and for us, it is another day to progress in our life. Otherwise, we think that, okay, finally after this human life, this is the last out of all the creatures, and we are done now. Then we will recycle again. Everything is that. We are stuck in this cycle of death and birth, and it is much happier up there. So hopefully we attain self-realization by the end and get mokṣa, so that we do not need to again start in this same cycle of death and birth. That is why we say our work, we focus on satsaṅg. If the world around us is barking, let them bark. When an elephant is walking and the dog is barking in the back, the elephant will not every time look back and say, "Why is it barking?" Same is that in life. It does not matter if you are doing good. Even if you are doing bad, then still people say, "Oh, look how bad this person is. Look, he is useless. He does nothing." Even when you try to do something good, still there will be people behind you, because of jealousy, saying, "Oh, look, he is doing this and he is doing that." So the allegations, the gossips, the useless talk, all these things will continue. So we know our goal, we know our path, we know that we have the grip of Gurudev. So continue forward, do not look back. Who is saying what? Because if we start looking back and observing and thinking and contemplating on what we can do, and why we did this and why we did that, then we will not be able to live and to continue further. Past is past, future we do not know. Focus now. Focus in the present. Live your life. It does not matter how it is; it will be good because we have guru kṛpā. And guru kṛpā, that is how we find inner peace, and outer peace will always be there. Oṁ Śānti, Śānti, Śānti. Sat Sanātan Dharm kī jaya, āj kī ānanda kī jaya, āp sab bhaktoṁ kī jaya, Har Har Nama Pārvati Pate, Har Har Mahādeva Śambhu.