We bow in devotion, in reverence to the worshipful presence of Gurudev. We bow with gratitude and thankfulness of heart to the adorable presence of Gurudev, who silently, invisibly sustains our spiritual life, who continues as during his physical presence to sustain, protect and provide for his spiritual family.

Thousands of years ago the great World Teacher, the worshipful Lord Krishna proclaimed: “yogakshemam vahamyaham—I safeguard all that my devotee possesses, and I provide for him all that he does not possess, but requires; I provide for him, I look after him with regard to his secular, material needs as well as with regard to his higher, spiritual, divine needs.”

That was millennia ago. That was a different age, but it has made no difference to the Almighty Lord. He has continued to keep His promise and looks after the needs both secular as well as sacred, material as well as spiritual, outer as well as inner of those who have turned to Him, made Him their life’s goal, made Him the very centre of their living, the treasure of their heart, and think of Him constantly. And the passage of time, the rolling centuries, the changing of the age, has made little difference to Him. He fulfils that promise ever, ever; He fulfils that promise in His own wonderful way.

Thus it is that in this world of insecurity, unemployment, poverty, suffering due to want, He has created a haven of refuge providing sincere seekers with food to eat, shelter, clothing, medical aid, all the necessities of life. And for Yoga, He has created the scope to practise devotion, prayer and worship; the scope to practise service, compassion, kindness, being good and doing good; the scope to engage in discipline and self-control; to practise concentration, meditation and inwardness; the scope to practise and evolve along lines of study, reflection, discrimination, analysis, investigation and jnana sravana. Thus, Yoga, the inner life, the spiritual aspect of man’s life, He provides in a way so as to put us in a debt of gratitude that would perhaps take births for us to repay.

Fully this great promise of the Divine is continuously fulfilled in the case of all sincere seeking souls. As of yore, as of ancient times, a different age, even so today, at this moment, in these present times in our own lives, yogakshemam vahamyaham is being fulfilled again and again in all its fullness. God has been honest, God has been good, God has been true, God has kept His word.

If you ponder the state of human society all over the world and take a look at yourself in this haven of refuge, this haven of peace, then the light of understanding will dawn in your intellect, and the light of a grateful love will arise and fill your heart towards your invisible, but real benefactor.Yogakshemam vahamyaham has never been belied. All things may change, the world may be a different world with different conditions, but the Divine Word prevails, the promise goes on being fulfilled time after time in the lives of millions who sincerely seek the Divine, remember Him, think of Him constantly, make Him the centre of their lives, the goal of their lives. To them, amidst poverty there is plenty, amidst want there is the fulfilment of every want, amidst anxiety, insecurity, danger, there is safety, security and fearlessness.

Yogakshemam vahamyaham—this eternal promise is proved true in the lives of countless seeking souls who are given freedom from want and freedom of mind. But the discriminating soul will receive of this gift with awareness: “Now is the time when I must make the highest use of what has been given unto me.” Therefore, with a grateful heart, our life itself will be a perennial thanksgiving.

Beloved Gurudev gave us yet another precious, important and very meaningful concept. He said: “Integral Yoga, Yoga of synthesis—evolve in a many-sided manner, thus bringing about a beautiful harmony and balance within your personality. Let heart, mind and hand develop simultaneously. Let not one be developed at the neglect of another.” Because we are constantly facing situations when discrimination is required, when rationality is required. If it does not serve us at that time, we are swept away by emotion, by sentiment. There are times when the exercise of sentiment—compassion, understanding, forgiveness, kindness—is necessary. At that time if only rationality is available then one becomes hard. One fails to understand, one misunderstands; one reacts in a hard manner, feelingless manner.

Therefore, balance should be there between the intellect and emotion, rationality and sentiment. They have to mutually help each other so that everything becomes an asset, not a problem or a liability, but an actively, vigorously helpful endowment. Mutually they counterbalance each other so that each function is regulated, and each functions in its proper context when it is needed.

When the exercise of emotion is called for, if you work or act through the intellect, you are bound to commit error. When the exercise of intellect, rationality, is required, if you act through emotion, you are bound to be in error. Both are good but both require regulation. And when it is time to act, if you remain inactive, then you are in deep error. Where it is necessary to act, if you are inactive or neglect to act, then you will regret later.

In the same way, if while engaging your mind and energy in all the necessary kartavya karma—duties that have to be done, actions that are obligatory—if you do not simultaneously practise detachment, inwardness, antarmukhi pratyahara, and even in the midst of actions you do not practise the truth that “I am nishkriya—I am the actionless soul, I am the detached witness, I am neither the doer nor the enjoyer,” if you do not develop this inwardness, moving towards the centre of your being, then activity becomes a net in which you become entangled.

To be involved is good, necessary. We must be involved. To be entangled is not good, it is not desirable. Thus inwardness must counterbalance bahirmukhatva (outward tendency), and action must counterbalance nishkriyata (non-activity). Rationality must counterbalance mere sentiment and emotion. And bhav, emotional attitude, must prevail in its own right field and sphere and its own time and place.

This was the wise and perceptive teaching of beloved Guru Maharaj, who invisibly ever-present looks after our Yoga and kshema, safeguards our welfare secular, physical, material and outer, as well as our welfare sacred, spiritual, unseen and inner. He has given us scope for this integrated development, this Yoga of synthesis. For this Ashram is a manifest expression of the Yoga of synthesis—the balance between mind, intellect, heart and hand. Gurudev’s advent, life, realisations, teachings and Ashram are the fulfilment of the ancient promise of the Almighty Lord.

Let us, therefore, recognise the boundless bounty and grace that has been showered upon us. Let us, therefore, rejoice in the ever recurring truth of the great promise of the Lord—yogakshemam vahamyaham. Let us, therefore, recognise His presence, His divine hand, His fulfilment of His pledge a hundred thousand times, again and yet again in our lives and in the lives of all sincere seekers. Let us, therefore, engage in utilising to the full the precious benefits from the fulfilment of His promise in the form of this centre of Yoga and Vedanta and crown ourselves with supreme blessedness. That is the least we can do. Then our lives will indeed be fruitful and fulfilled.

God bless us to have right perception. God bless us to understand what we possess. God give us the wisdom and grant us the insight to profit thereby to the maximum extent and crown ourselves with supreme peace and joy, peace and joy, peace and joy!