If you say what is there inside the temple? Any temple. Hindu temple, Buddhist temple, Jain temple any temple. What is inside the temple? There would be a statue. It's of Mahavir Swami, of Adinath, of Rishabdev, then it becomes temple of Jain. If it is of Krishna, Ram, Durga, Shiva then it became temple of Hindus. There is statue of Buddha, statue of Maitreya, statute of Padmasambhava, then it became Buddha temple. Temple of Buddhist. Okay you remove the statues from inside then ask whose temple? It will become difficult. Then it is just a structure. But despite this, the insistence of any place always remains. Of Shiv Ji? Said in Amarnath, in Kailash. Why? Not present in rest of the places. Today I want something about Pilgrimages. Now for people, the meaning of pilgrimage is it is an excuse to go for a vacation. All the family sit in the car. Clothes, take warm clothes. Down so much heat, if you go up then you will find cold. It becomes hill station. And when you go thinking it as a hill station, hotels will also be made there, dhaba (eating house) will also be made, restaurants will also be made. And where human will go, there trash will also happen. Garbage will start collecting. Where are the people going? Now We are going to Amarnath. How are they going? Going by helicopter. Fly out, visit the temple. Fly back in, come home. With the ahankar (ego) I have done Tirtha. How virtuous am I?. Giving number to himself. Guru Nanak Sahib raised a question on this pilgrimage journey. He said ‘uhaan tou jayiye jo ihan na ho’ uhaa means 'there' There Ihaa means 'here' If it is not present here then I get up and go there. But which is here so for it why shall I go there? Okay. I am giving an example. The one who can’t see through the eyes, if you take such person to Kailash Mansarovar, will he be able to see? No. You take him to Rameshwaram, so after going there would he be able to see? No. Blind is blind here also, blind is blind there also. Upanishad says this that who is not able to see god within himself, he may go to any corner of the world, he was blind, he will remain blind only. If within you, you are not able to experience God then to see him, what will happen by going here and there. Only waste of time and ego. And you have enough money that’s why you don’t feel pain by spending money. Do you know what is the meaning of pilgrimage? One. that you take a temporary leave from your samsara for twenty days, ten days, one month, three months, and you go and stay at that place and you live a disciplined life and you do your sadhana there. This is called going to Tirth (pilgrimage). If you only went, touched, saw, returned back running, it is not tirth (pilgrimage). You go there, stay there. Okay going to pilgrimage and staying there have some rules. Srimad Bhagavat says when one goes to pilgrimage. Now I am making you listen to my story a little. During childhood when I started listening to satsang (spiritual discourse) then there, at our place a Mahatma, Swami Pragyananand Saraswati came, he did Srimad Bhagwat there. I had listened my first Bhagvat from him. I might have been in seventh class. Listened So the rules of pilgrimage were said. Rule No.1 You go to pilgrimage being dispassionate. Means you go there by leaving your passions at home so that you develop more dispassion. To awaken the dispassion, go to pilgrimage with dispassion. No 2, Shoes should never be worn in pilgrimage, If one goes to pilgrimage then one should sleep on the floor, eat food once, do spiritual practice four times, food one time, spiritual practice four times. At home what happens? Food four times and hymns sometimes don’t happen once also. And much before the sunrise, should get up in the brahma muhurat (1hour before sunrise). If you stay at pilgrimage then don't speak lies there, don’t do dishonesty, don't cheat, don’t take service from anyone rather give. In a way you live a life of a Sadhu when you go in a Tirth. Have control on your senses. Tongue said have to eat this, you took it to feed. Eyes said, have to see this, you went to see. So your senses... going after the senses who keeps on satisfying the senses that person can’t do sadhana (spiritual practice) And your mind is slave of your senses all the times. Yesterday we had discussed that Puranjan was slave of his wife. Whatever she says, he does so. The meaning of going to pilgrimage that now for this duration I am not going to remain slave of my senses senses and I am not going to listen to my mind and even if it seems difficult to get up early in the morning, I will still do that. Why? Because it is said that at pilgrimage sleeping till late is sin. Then he gave whole series of sins with it. It is a very long chapter. Said is one lies... then sin, slept till late... then sin, ate too much... then sin, saw anything with lust... then sin, brought greed to mind... then sin, disrespected any Brahman, Mahatma, Sadhu then that is a bigger sin. And if someone does 'tirthvaas', 'Vaas' means when you stay there. Then he said its virtues like If at home you do Gayatri chanting for one hour but that same thing you do staying at pilgrimage then its result is hundred times. means it’s like doing hundred times. Staying in the virtuous area of pilgrimage, sadhana (spiritual practice) increases more, dispassion comes to mind, conscience also rise in mind, doing moderation becomes easy. Now when I listened all these things, then in my mind what wish came that when shall I go and stay at pilgrimage. When will this happen? When will this happen? I am just a school girl going to a school, who will take me to a pilgrimage? Nobody. Then for good three years I kept on having this desire in my mind. For three years this desire kept running, kept running and when it is heard this person is going to Vrindavan, this person is going to Rishikesh, this person is going to Haridwar I would fantasies, how would that be? How lucky they are. So they used to catch the train then I used to go running to them to see their faces, okay these people are going, how lucky they are? And then finally when I entered class eleven, by that time I was already having my small group who loved me because I used to do satsang and among them I prepared one because they don't allow to go alone. Who would allow me to go? So I said her 'You talk to my family and I will say she is going and I am going with her' And that woman, she was plus forty and she is my disciple. And I am in eleventh means I am at seventeen and she is plus forty something I am the master she is the disciple and yet I have to say, 'I am going with her' Because I am still a minor. So my family members were made to understand that she is going and I am going with her. The inside story is something. I know what is it. So first pilgrimage I did of Vrindavan. I couldn't sleep in my whole journey. We took Deluxe train that goes from Amritsar to Bombay, It stops at Mathura. We got down at Mathura and from there hired a 'tanga' (horse carriage). We sat in 'tanga' (horse carriage) and as soon as I got down at Mathura station, I felt like now Krishna Maharaj will come to receive me. I was that excited. And from there when we sat on tanga, then the distance from Mathura to Vrindavan that is of sixteen kilometer that road, each single tree, each single bush which was visible, it felt like Krishna might have touched this. Krishna might have seen this, he might have sat under this because the vibrations of Mahatmas and incarnations, they never die. Because they have released the energy and energy is indestructible. It’s just there always. The houses which were visible, the huts that were visible, the farms those were visible. When farms were visible then it felt with peacocks Krishna might be dancing. And clouds were seen so felt like these are those clouds by seeing which Krishna was named as Shyamsundar. Clouds are dark colored and Krishna color was also dusky. So these are of him only. These are those only. Five thousand years passed but that doesn't matters to me. There in the lanes of Bihari Ji (lord Krishna) temple. Even where to stay ? Will stay at the lanes of Bihari Ji (lord Krishna). And got a room in a 'dharmashala' (charitable place to stay) there. and the whole night I couldn't sleep First of all sleep didn't come. Secondly electricity has gone. Then also sleep didn't come. Whole night sitting I was waiting... that when the sound of morning Mangala arti comes by that time we should be there... at the door. And as soon as 'tanga' reached Vrindavan, there I took off my shoes. because at pilgrimage shoes shouldn't be worn. I put the shoes into the cover of the bed that now I don't need it. So how many days we stayed so barefoot, anywhere I went barefoot. And at that time there was not that much usage of Rickshaw. wherever you have to go, you have to walk all the times. And temple, temple, temple we are wandering, wandering. And to which temple we went, we sat there. Where we sat there eyes got closed and when it opened in two to four hours then we got up and if we got anything to eat, we ate or else after wandering we returned and stayed at that dharmashala. and little, you know steel box 'Pipa' (tin container with a lid) said in Punjabi, 'Kanastar' in Hindi. There only some rice, dal were kept that how much we needed, we will cook it, eating once not twice, because I heard, what Bhagavat has said... eat once. slept on the ground, don't wear shoes, don't sleep till morning, do spiritual practice.
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