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Part 1: The Path of Wisdom Begins with Gaṇeśa: On Health, Divine Providence, and Self-Knowledge Not only our mother Earth, not only the creatures on this planet or this earth, but to harmonize all the planets in the universe, to settle all the negative energies—what we call the peace dialogue always begins with Śrī Gaṇeśajī. And Gaṇeśa removes conflict: the conflict between two that creates duality and fighting, and that conflict arises from ignorance. So ignorance stands opposite to buddhi, the intellect, viveka, or knowledge. Therefore, Gaṇeśjī is also known as the God of wisdom, knowledge, or buddhi—brilliant knowledge. Where there is light, ignorance disappears. Where the light of wisdom or knowledge shines, the darkness of ignorance vanishes. And when ignorance vanishes, there is no more jealousy, no more ego, no more conflict, no more dualities, no more fighting. There is contentment, oneness, understanding, and peace. So we are all searching for that kind of knowledge, that kind of buddhi. O God, give my children good intellect, good knowledge, so that their knowledge is positive and they make good decisions. Lord, God, please give me sad-buddhi. “Sad” means like satsaṅg—truthful, better, good. Buddhi is intellect, and that intellect encompasses right communication. So, God, please give sad-buddhi to my neighbours. In Āyurveda, it is said, “Pehlā sukha nirogī kāyā”—the first happiness is a healthy body. So health is not everything, yet everything is nothing without health. But that health can do nothing if there is no body. Though the body is mortal, we still cannot simply neglect it. If you injure your finger and it bleeds, you immediately go to the first aid box, take a bandage, and apply it to the finger. We take care of our body. So the first happiness, the first pleasantness, the first joy, the first good thing is a healthy life—which also means a healthy nature, healthy water. We spoke about the lake. “Sarvar tarvar śānt jan chauthā barse, maiṁ paramāratha ke kārane chāroṁ dariye de.” I spoke—I believe it was in Edinburgh, in my lecture, and you have probably heard it in the webcast. You know, just two decades ago, or perhaps one decade ago, we could drink water from any lake and river. But now it is so polluted that every one of us, wherever we go, first takes what? The water bottle, the mineral water bottle. And it is unbelievable—unbelievable. How expensive water is! In some places, water is more expensive than milk. Then let us drink only milk! We could bathe with milk. Anyway, there is a therapy in Āyurveda: bathing with milk. It is very ancient, using pañcāmṛta, the five nectars. First, we bathe the deity’s statue or the master’s feet—or anyone, even a living statue. First we bathe with yogurt, then with honey, then with milk, then with ghee, and then with holy water, Gaṅgā, you know, and then with some rose water. So, yogurt, honey, butter or ghee, milk, and Gaṅgā water. These are pañcāmṛta; they are the five nectars. So there are many kinds of nectar: pañca amṛta, jñāna amṛta. Wisdom is called nectar; immortality is attained through wisdom. Vācana amṛta: the words of the saints or wise persons. Each word is like a drop of nectar. Oh, beautiful! Drops of nectar. That is what we have in our yoga book called Hidden Powers in Humans, which is about the Chakras and Kuṇḍalinī. It describes the Bindu Chakra, and a fine drop of nectar trickles down. Similarly, the words. So do not imagine that somewhere you will find a material nectar, dig it out of the earth, drink it, and become immortal. It is not like that. Vācana Amṛta, Guru Vākya Amṛta. “Dhyāna Mūlaṁ Guru Mūrtiḥ, Pūjā Mūlaṁ Guru Padam, Mantra Mūlaṁ Guru Vākyam, Mokṣa Mūlaṁ Guru Kṛpā.” That Vākya is called Vācana Amṛta. Mokṣa Mūlaṁ Guru Kṛpā. So, kṛpā—mercy, kindness—is also nectar. Jñāna amṛta, vācana amṛta, caraṇa amṛta, pūjā amṛta, and so forth. Many kinds of nectar make you healthy. Now, once a week—if not every day, because doing it daily would require five litres of yogurt for washing, five litres of milk, two or three kilos of honey, and in your bathtub or washroom all this would stick to everything, you know. Every year you would need to call the plumber, and where is so much Gaṅgā water? Yet all clean water can be imagined as Gaṅgā water. At the very least, you can do it once a week: take a little yogurt—do not take many kilos—and rub it nicely over your body. This yogic practice will purify all the āma (toxins) from the body. There are many so-called therapies for āma, but they are not real therapy. I recently saw a book called “Amas Therapy,” and I said, “Oh, the blind lead the blind, the blind lead the blind.” When a blind person tells you, “This is the way,” you cannot respond, “No, that is wrong, we should go this way,” because you yourself are blind. True? And Amma’s real therapy is through prāṇāyāma. Run, work hard, sweat profusely, and then wash yourself well with neem soap or neem powder. That is the perfect Ammā therapy. Mr. Muktanand Yohanes, okay? Hard work, sweating, like coming out of a sauna. A sauna is good Ammā therapy; I can agree with that. The other, what is it? The Ayurvedic massage they perform all day—the therapists are, after all, living beings, not machines, so their muscles also get tired. So when you request during an Ayurvedic massage, “Please, a little tighter or more pressure,” they reply, “No, no, in Āyurveda this is prohibited because you damage the tissues.” And I said, “Oh, yes. So just a little oil and gently stroke them.” With such a light touch you cannot get rid of your āmas. Anyway. So, sit and apply yogurt nicely, then wash with water, then with honey, then water, then milk. Then water, then a little butter, massage the ghee nicely, and finally wash with warm water using neem soap. Once a week. Take forty-five minutes for this ceremony—a ceremony to yourself. Mahāprabhujī said, “I am myself that Ātmā Tattva. I am the knower of all Tattvas. I have no attachment, no ignorance. I am Nirmohī.” And I greet, and that greeting returns to myself. I am that. So bodily awareness is also significant; do not neglect it. When you perform this pañcāmṛta, the five nectars enter your body, and all those āmas receive life again. When they are dead in the body, then what we call certain diseases—like cancer—may appear. But when you give them life, you awaken what was dead; that is something special. Yet for that we must first possess the power like Devpurījī, who could give life to a dead person. And for us it remains believable because we know three people who are still alive and whom Devpurījī revived several hours after death. And they are healthy. Medical science says that after one minute, a day, the brain changes; a person may become unhealthy, lose memory, suffer many problems. But Kartā, the creator who has created, holds everything in His hands. He can do anything. We, on the other hand, can only damage. What can we do? Damage. Therefore, we should not do what they did; we should do what they taught us to do. Gurudev always said, “Gurujī, do not do what Gurujī does. Do what Gurujī tells you to do.” But as soon as Gurujī leaves, you jump onto his holy seat and sit there. Then you play the guru, and then you will be in trouble, because you still do not know. You know, position is like a very poisonous cobra. First ego arises, the cobra lifts its hood, then you are seated there, and it will bite you. Yet Mahāprabhujī gave mokṣa to a cobra and restored life to a farmer’s child—they brought the morning meal, brought the afternoon offering at five o’clock, a goat, and so forth. They could do this because they are kartā. They are the creator, so the creator can liberate us. The creator is also the liberator. But one who is created, who has been created, cannot be a liberator; he can be a destroyer. Therefore, that creator has created, and the created one should follow the creator’s rules. That is crucial. So when they say this pañcāmṛta will again give life to our body, we should try it. One large bowl or cup of honey, milk, yogurt, and warm ghee—not cold butter. Well, when you put butter on the body it will melt anyway, but ghee is better, and it gives a beautiful sensation. One thing I must tell you: do not forget to keep the bathroom warm. Otherwise, you will catch a cold. And when you catch a cold and lie ill in bed, all the marmas will die further, creating more problems. So that was about temperature; when it is 30 or 40 degrees, you must maintain warmth, and your body will be healthy. So, Vachanāmṛti—the words, the wisdom—and that wisdom, that knowledge, is Gaṇeśa. Gaṇeśa means Buddhisālī. A Bodhisattva is one who possesses wisdom, whom we call wise. But He does not merely have wisdom; He is that wisdom. Different, no? We say someone has buddhi, while He is buddhi. That is the difference between that divine energy and us. So that cosmic energy gathers, may come in a concentrated form, and harmonises the universe. And we, as human beings, are not separate from this entire universe. We are also a tiny part of it, though it matters little how tiny. Compared to the vast, endless universe, we are beings practically invisible. Not visible. Not visible. After how many kilometres are you no longer visible? Perhaps someone knows. With very, very good eyesight, how far can you still see a person in the desert? Three kilometres. Five kilometres. In extremely clear weather, ten kilometres. But beyond ten kilometres, you do not see. When you use binoculars, you see for a while longer, and then the person disappears. And even then, if he does not disappear, you lose sight because the globe is round. After every kilometre or five hundred metres, you notice the curvature. So we are not that great. What do you think, O human? That you are the lord of the universe? No, no, we are not. But they—those who are one with the divine—they are, though they may still be unconscious of it. Thus, Śrī Gaṇeśajī is a god, or energy, or wisdom, or immortality, or love—whatever you call it—existing and living in everyone and everywhere. If we realise this, calmness immediately appears in our thoughts. But those who carry many sins and feel guilty cannot think of God, or Gaṇeśjī, or Gurudev. They are allergic. They say, “Oh God, oh my goodness, these people again, terrible.” So the guilty one always tries to run away. You know, sometimes on immigration borders in some countries they write “Most Wanted,” okay? And the most wanted ones hide themselves; they cannot come near. Similarly, sinners cannot approach the light, near spirituality and God. Therefore, we should not merely play. We should recognise that we have only limited energy and stay within our limitations. Meanwhile, I discovered that people all over the world have a saying—I used to think we had a unique poem in India, but I find it everywhere. “Stretch your legs as far as your blanket extends,” yes? Mānasakti Agñā. When I first came to Europe, and also when I visited Switzerland, Germany and so on, people asked me in interviews, “What do you like here, and what don’t you like in Europe?” Excuse me, everybody, but I don’t understand why. I said one thing I don’t like: the sleeping blankets are very short. When I cover my feet, the blanket only reaches my navel. So I have to twist completely like this to cover one side, then the other side, then this side. If the room is really warm, it is fine; we don’t need a blanket. But when the room is not warm, I had to ask for a second blanket, so that half covers my left side and half my upper right. Yet, you know, nobody sleeps peacefully at night. Sometimes you have to turn, and then again, in between, there is a gap. So after those interviews, slowly, slowly, you see, at least the hotels now provide larger blankets. Thank you. Nowadays my devotees offer me a blanket that is really long—about two metres or more. Otherwise, it used to be just one metre or one and a half metres long. In Switzerland I was freezing, and I complained. And when I returned to the same hotel in Zurich, the receptionist said, “Why did you come back to this hotel? Last time you complained you didn’t like it.” I replied, “I am sure that if I mistakenly came again, I will not return.” So, it means: know your capacity, know your limitation. We should not go beyond our limitations. And we should trust and believe that God will give us what we need. It is in our destiny. Who are we to give to someone? Who are we to judge anyone? We can judge only ourselves, and even that we are not fully capable of. So there is an external—no, not external—a divine energy, divine consciousness, that provides for all creatures. “Kīṛī ko kaṇ, hāthī ko man.” For an ant, a small grain of sugar or rice is enough, because an ant does not have a large stomach. How much does it need? And for an elephant, hāthī ko man, nearly fifty or a hundred kilos. Who gives? God gives. God does not let anyone go hungry or unsheltered. Everyone finds something to eat. God is a giver; He is the provider. If a human thinks, “We are doing this,” that is our ignorance. We cannot. We should know our limitations. Our knowledge, our science, our instruments—everything is limited. And if the other energy comes, it can destroy everything in no time. All research centres and everything—a little earthquake comes and everything, Hari Om Tat Sat, is destroyed. That is a mighty energy. So there is someone who watches over all; everyone gives to Him, and He gives to everyone. Our duty is just one thing: we should try our best to do good. That is all. If you live in this way, why worry about the rest? Therefore, Gurujī said—and today is also Gurujī’s birthday. Our holy Gurujī, Swāmī Madhavānandajī, 11th September 1923, Indian time, 8 o’clock in the morning. A good constellation, eight days after Krishna’s birthday. And Gurujī said, “Therefore, Satguru Dev will protect us. Don’t worry. Don’t worry. Nirbhay. Live without fear. Never be afraid of anything.” And after all this, one day someone said to Gurujī, “What do you need, Gurujī? What can I give you? This and that.” So Gurujī answered, “Thank you. If I need something, I will tell you.” That person left, because he had come with some arrogance. “Can I give you something? Can I help you with something?” and so on. So Gurujī said, “No, I have everything. When I need, I will ask.” But the man insisted, “But I can give you some money or this.” Gurujī replied, “Where will I keep all that? Then I would have to guard it, and meditate on my money, worrying whether someone might take it or it might spoil.” So Gurujī composed a beautiful bhajan and said in satsaṅg, in the last Guru Pūrṇimā satsaṅg before he went to Brahmaloka, that the whole world is suffering, starving from hunger—especially the human being. What kind of hunger? Longing for money, longing for position, longing for beauty, longing for partners, longing to become famous, longing, longing… longing. This jīva hangs in this longing and will die. That is a hunger. We call it a burning desire. And a burning desire means you cannot quench your thirst. Only Jñāna Amṛta can quench it. And if you ask someone, don’t ask. Gurujī told me when I took sannyāsa—he gave me sannyāsa, and I wanted to become a sannyāsī, but Gurujī first said no. After many requests, finally Gurujī said to me, “If you live as a sanyāsī, then live like a lion in the forest or a tiger in the forest. Don’t wander here and there like a hungry creature. In India, we say, like a hungry dog.” So many things Gurujī used to say and teach—many, many things. Gurujī once said, “I asked that person, but he said, ‘Not now, maybe next time.’” And indirectly he pointed towards me. He said, “A beggar begging from the beggar.” Do you know how much buddhi is in that? I said, “Yes, I know.” It meant Gurujī was telling me, “Why are you a beggar? And someone who cannot give is also a beggar, so do not beg from a beggar. The giver is someone else; whatever is given comes from another who gives to us. Who are we to give? Nothing, nothing. And if we have something to give, it is only what He gave us that we can pass on. That is all.” “Dīpa Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī śab kuśā deve, dātā dīpa dayāl deve.” “Deve” means giving. “Śab” means all. “Kuśā” means everything. Śab Kuśā Deve Dātā—the giver of all. Dīpa Mahāprabhujī, dayāl, the merciful one—who has this understanding? So it is that He is the giver who can provide for us. Part 2: The Worthy Beggar: A Discourse on Ganesh Chaturthi, Destiny, and Divine Surrender God is the giver. We are only beggars, but we should be worthy beggars. We should feel ourselves as worthy of God’s mercy, God’s love, God’s kṛpā. And that mercy is there; it is with us. These are the experiences of the holy saints who constantly receive from this universe the light and wisdom of the great ones. That is why today we have Śrī Gaṇeśjī, Caturthī Darśa, Gaṇeśa Caturthī. It is Caturthī Darśa, the fourth day after the Amāvasyā—the fourth moonlight, the fourth moon day. And this is also the day of Mahāprabhujī, because Mahāprabhujī also went to Brahmaloka in Mahāsamādhi, Brahmalīna. When the holy saints pass away, we don’t say they died, and we don’t say the holy saint went to heaven, because heaven is a limited prison. It is a kind of prison that offers the best treatment—beauty, everything. But just as water drips drop by drop from a pot, and sooner or later that pot will be empty, similarly our lives and our good karma, achche karma, which bring us to that heaven, are one day finished. In some yugas, they will be exhausted. Then again, you have to come to Chaurāsī, the cycle of eighty-four. Therefore, you can say Svarga and Naraka—heaven and hell—are two prisons. One prison has good treatment, and the other has a little bit unpleasant treatment. But everlasting happiness and freedom is called Brahmaloka: to become one with Brahman. And therefore, when a holy saint passes away, we say Mahāsamādhi or Brahmalīna—Brahma Līna. Līna means united, melted, became one in Brahman. So, the aim of every saint and every yogī is to reach Brahman, not heaven. And so, slowly, dhēre dhēre. Swami Mādhavānandajī, Bhagavān Satya Sanātana—our aim is to come to that. And so Śrī Gaṇeśajī will remove all the obstacles. So keep Gaṇeśajī on your typing desk, your working desk, your office table, you know, and when you don’t know the answer, then give a telephone call to Gaṇeśajī. Yes, he will answer, and that person will say, “Okay, then everything is clear.” Sab vighn dūr karne vāle, all kleśas, all disturbances, Śrī Gaṇeśjī can remove. So today is Gaṇeśjī’s birthday of incarnation, or his appearance day, and also the birthday of our beloved Satguru Dev, Swāmī Mādhāvānandajī. So we pray for harmony, peace, and blessings for the whole world. And also, today is a Remembrance Day for the 9/11 accident in New York, which happened about ten years ago. So we pray to God for peace in the whole world. Well, now your breakfast is digested, and we have some exercises for ten to fifteen minutes. So stand up. Right then, exercise with mercy or without mercy? With mercy. Okay. So stretch your hands up and interlock the fingers and stretch twenty-one times, Tāḍāsana up, and hands down on the head. One, two, stretch, three, four, eight and a half meters long... intense time. They have to stretch up. It all goes down again, so you can have a very good lunch appetite. Go ahead. Very good. Go ahead. Now, remain with hands stretched up, palms facing upward towards the ceiling, and both feet on the ground, heels on the ground. And now, one leg straight in the front. This is a new exercise again. Yes, that’s it. Yes, that is, how to call, upgrading yoga and your life. Now, only with one leg, stretch up on the toes, yes, and down. Interlock the fingers, up and down. Oh, very good, yes. Like when someone has a problem with one leg, you jump with one, but on the toes, very good. Place your hands on your head and change the leg. Bring the other leg up and stretch it in front. Yes. Balance and stretch your body upward. One-foot Tāḍāsana. Its name is called Ek Pād Tāḍāsana. Yes, very good. Okay. Good. Hands up still. Put your foot down. Now, two-foot Tāḍāsana. Yes. It means again with both legs up and down. They are two feet. Yes. Very good. Very good. Perfect. Good. Legs apart. Legs apart. When you bend your elbows or come here, touch the tips of your middle fingers near the chest. Now, look at the distance of your elbows. That far should be your legs apart. Very good. Interlock the fingers, hands up and back. While exhaling, bend to the left side. Inhale, and come to the middle. Exhale, right side. Inhale, middle. Exhale, left side. Inhale, middle. Exhale, left side. Inhale, middle. Very good. Hands down, legs together, and Hastapādāsana. Inhale, hands up, palms facing forward, and slowly exhale, bend down forward. Touch your toes on the floor without bending the knees as far as you can. Two, come up, and four, hands down. Perfect. You are very good. Legs about forty centimeters apart, interlock the arms, and sit on a comfortable chair. Yes, you are sitting on the dining table, okay, east-ish, you know. That’s why you are leaning a little bit. But not so much leaning; try to wait till the waiter comes, like this. That’s not, still not so hard. I was talking about mercy—not chocolate, but a different mercy. Do not look to others; remain there. Don’t look to others, don’t think of others; think of yourself, how you are. That’s it, in which condition you are. Endure, endure the situation. Endure. What can happen? Thigh muscles will burn. It’s a burning, of course. You go more down. It’s burning. That’s called fat burning. Come up. Perfect. You are very good. Now I will count the seconds, okay? So again, interlock the fingers because I will have to count exactly. So don’t blame me. Blame the clock that goes too slow or too quick. I am waiting until it becomes one minute. Yes, go down. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. 31, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 30, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty. We remain straight. Yeah, no, don’t come up. I mean, sit comfortably. I have to count. Forty-one, forty-two, forty-three. One minute. Very good. Oh, not still. Okay. Thank you. That’s all. So, we have two or three pictures of that. So, I will put this here, and my Turiyānand can show us the pictures before I begin. Of course, you can put it in your webcast also. So, this was, it was like that. And so, when we see Gaṇeśa’s forehead, or Viṣṇu had a forehead, Brahmā had a forehead—now this, so this was not a, this is not a fore—what you call the photo studio, but eighth, eighth. Suppose this is the real, yes, for the fifth, second, from the close you see his eyes, and in the video movements and everything. And the third photo, we are three. He can be according to this door, and he is a young baby. So, come to the first picture. You have darśan today on Gaṇeśjī, Gurujī’s birthday. You must all greet him. It is great, you know. It’s one thing that is the thing. Sheshanāga darśana, you are today the most luckiest one; at least in the photo, you have darśana of Sheshanāga. So this we will put on our website, and you can see it and look at it. Thank you, Śrī Dhanañjay Purī, thank you. So, whoever wants it on the camera website, we will put it on our website, and you can download it in your app. So, Dīpa Nārāyaṇa Kī Jai, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Jī, Mahārāj Jī Kī Jai; this is Gaṇeśjī, Gurujī. So, now what? When we see that Kṛṣṇa was incarnated and brought from Mathurā to Gokula by his father in the basket, and suddenly came this five-headed Pañca Parameśvara Nāga, Śeṣa Nāga, from the Yamunā river, and put his head to protect him from the rain. Well, it is a very nicely done plastic, but it did not come out well. So when we discuss things like this, it was. And it is, he is now the incarnation of the Śeṣa. So this is a sign that the Kali Avatāra is on the way. What? The Kālī incarnation, the Kali Yuga incarnation, is on the way. Very sure. Time is coming. And therefore we should all live in harmony and oneness, without jealousy, without conflict. Open your heart, and you are the lucky one. So, you see, in the Satyuga time, they had a big snake, and they put the snake around the rock and churned the ocean. Don’t think it’s a joke. It was not a joke. It’s not a fairy tale in that way, but reality. But we cannot accept the reality because we do not know. So, Mahāprabhujī said that if you don’t know and you don’t believe in the Guru Vākya, what should God do with you? That’s it. And therefore, the mystery in this universe and the mystery on this planet is something indescribable. And therefore, we are on the safe side to say yes. But when we saw this, you know, it’s not like that he has only one head, he’s smaller, and this other one is like this. Someone, some have one finger extra, but was exactly complete. He has the strength of expanding his head and again going down. He has five mouths, five tongues, ten eyes, and so when Viṣṇu is residing in the ocean, it is like that. So we saw only a picture, but they saw in reality on television that he is moving, coming, moving, moving, moving. He is coming, sitting, and he is not aggressive. He is in beautiful and friendly South India, in the temple. No, no, somewhere else, a Śiva temple. So he came to Śiva. So we can have exact, now he is with the high security, you know. He is in very high security. That’s it. Śrāvdīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Jai. Good morning to everyone. Today was a very blessed day, and this one was a very big, big, big surprise. Surprise is too little, but to see these things, that we came to yugas and yugas in the past with our own eyes. Who knows that our Self, this Jīvātmā, was that time and again awoke in us this memory, this vision, or the luck in this way. So, it is said, don’t expect, just wait. It comes, and it will come. You remember, I think nearly ten years ago, on this day Gaṇeśjī drank milk. So, there was a Gaṇeśa statue, and on this day, Gaṇeśa drank—not in liters but tons or thousands of liters of milk with one small statue. In many, many countries, it happened: in England, in America, in India. In many temples, they gave the milk, and just the milk was brought near and was sucked. Many scientists came; they thought it is a stone which is sucking, you know. But the stone was a small stone. And they tested it, the stone was not getting softer or something like this. So in Jaḍān Āśram, our Premānandjī asked, “Holy Gurujī, should we also give the milk to our Gaṇeśjī?” So Holy Gurujī says, our Gaṇeśjī is already satisfied, he has no more hunger. So, that was something unbelievable. Many people saw it; maybe there is some pump inside, an Indian put it, and it’s sucking and going somewhere else. So they saw, even this lifted statue, there was nothing down. So there is. Anhonī guru kar sake, honī det mitāī, Parabrahma gurudev hai, sab kuchh det banāī. Anhonī guru kar sake—what is not possible, the Gurudev can make possible. Honī det mitāī—what will happen, he can remove it. Because Parabrahma Gurudev hai—Gurudev is that Parabrahma, he is the Gurudev. Sab kuchh det banāī—He can create; He can make everything. What should we do? We shall accept. We should become humble devotees of that Supreme. Humble devotees of Mahāprabhujī, Devpurījī, Alakhpurījī, Gurujī. We are students now, and we try our best. We try. There are many people who got training, were with me for many years, practicing yoga, and then lived life. Now they begin, when they don’t come to me, they become themselves like a guru, sitting here in Europe and teaching the same thing. But I said, okay, it is your choice, but be careful, because you are not that as you think you are. That is the main thing. So Gurujī always told us that we are servants. Gurujī said, “I am only the servant of Mahāprabhujī, nothing else.” And also, I used to say, I am only a student, a disciple of Gurujī, that’s all, and a servant of all creatures. In that is our benefit. So we open our heart, we clear our thoughts, and accept the Guruvākya, what comes. And then it is he who will liberate us. It is he who will save us, and if some problem comes, also be happy. Thanks to him, this problem, which was very big, could be, in this little, removed from us. Whatever happens is good. There is one story about a king and his minister. His minister was very buddhimān, had very good viveka, a wise person. And often he gave the judgment, or he spoke against, or opposite to, the king’s opinion. And the king was very angry. He was so angry, and he said, “Now I dismiss you from service. Go away.” But then, after a few years, he called him back because without him, that king could not do his work and survive. So there are many stories about him, so I will tell you two stories. So one story is that somehow an accident happened, and the king had a big cut on his thigh from a knife. It was ten to fifteen centimeters long and three centimeters deep, a big cut. So they made a remedy. There was no, how do you call, operations and like this. This was an early Āyurveda remedy. And there is one herb, I think also existing in Europe, when you cut your finger and you take this herb and put it on, it stops the blood and helps you recover very, very quickly. Very, very quickly. That is, I think in the Strīlky Āśram someone showed me that also, yes? So, when the minister came, the king was walking with a limp, and the minister came and asked, “What happened, Your Highness?” He said, “Oh, this terrible thing happens, and I have a big cut on my thigh.” The minister said, “Very good.” The king was so angry. Very good? He said, “Yes.” He said, “Very good.” He said, “You always hate me. You don’t like me. You go away. I send you away. Finished.” So he sent him away, dismissed. No more here. Very angry, the king sent him out of the kingdom. Well, that time the kingdom was small, you know. The biggest, longest kingdom was from here to the Vienna Woods. And this side, maybe until Aizen starts. That was a big kingdom. From the end of the Vienna Woods to come to this corner of the Hungarian border, it was a long way, maybe two days’ journey walking. And little population. So, as the king, they used to go for picnics, and there was a lot of jungle. Now, where is the jungle? We don’t have any more jungles here. Jungles were there. When you were fifty meters far away from your friends, you were lost. That was jungle, no roads. And there were also many tribes living in the forest. So one day, the king went for a picnic with his friends or people, and he had the best... He rode the horse quickly into the forest, and somehow he lost his way. The people who live in the forest, the tribes, they caught him. In that time, people called them primitive people, but they were not primitive, though we used to say so. They liked that, and they had a festival on that day with some rituals. In those rituals, they had to offer a living being, and it was a kind of ritual where they had to offer one human. They caught the king, brought him, and so they... They also had their ritual master sitting there, and they said, “We brought today a very good person, with big muscles and good qualities.” So the master said, “Okay, very good. Wash him, wash him nicely, and check the body, if it is a...” Complete body, so they took him to wash, and they saw his thigh, there was a long, what you call, scar, and they say, “Master, look.” Master said, “Oh, aṅg bhaṅgā, aṅg bhaṅgā,” damaged limbs. Damaged limbs cannot be used for the ceremony. Let him go. The king said, “Thank you.” And the king was thinking about his secretary or minister. I am sorry. You said what happened? This was good, best. He came home and sent a message to his minister to come, and said, “You were right. I am sorry that I was angry with you.” So whatever happens, accept it, though it is painful, though it is against your principles. But God, why did this happen? It was in my destiny, or it was in your destiny. So, who are you to blame someone? Before blaming someone, blame yourself, that yes, it was in my destiny. So, let’s say it could have cut his whole life; it would have cost him if not for this little cut. So this little cut on the thigh saved his life. So the minister came again, got his position, and the king was very happy. About one and a half years, two years passed. This is the second story. And one day, the king and the minister were sitting, and they were very happy. And the king said, “Tell me, what is the most enjoyable thing, where you enjoy the most enjoyable things? Nothing is better than this thing.” The minister said, “To go to the toilet.” He said, “You know, I like you, I respect you, and I love you, but you know, always and always, you hurt me. You always talk stupid things against me. What a joke you do, this. Finished.” So he said, “I’m sorry, sir, but it is like this, sorry. What do you think, sir? What is most enjoyable?” Oh, let’s have an audience, and eating, and drinking, and dancing, the ladies and men, and dancing, and this, you know. Part 3: The King and the Minister: A Lesson in Destiny and Devotion That which you call today the nightclub—such gatherings have come down from those times. After two years, the king said to the minister, “Organize a special evening today. Call the best artists and people, so we may enjoy ourselves.” The minister replied, “Yes, sir, how would you like it?” The king gave precise instructions. There was a fine hall. The king had his own excellent seat, and he also invited some neighboring kings. Each king had his minister sitting beside him, and so this king’s minister sat beside him as well. Before attending the party—a gathering that for certain people is kusaṅga (bad company) but for others is satsaṅga (good company)—the minister thought, “Today is my chance to prove to the king what is most joyful.” So before leaving, he said to the king, “Sir, other kings will be present, and in such a setting we cannot eat freely. It would be good if you had a small bite beforehand.” The king agreed, “Good idea.” The minister then gave him something like a pakorā—a fried delicacy, well spiced, filled with spinach and chillies, accompanied by a good chutney. But the minister had instructed the cook, “Seventy percent of the ingredients must be sonāmukhī.” So they fed sonāmukhī to the king. Sonāmukhī is an herb that, when eaten, causes diarrhea; when taken warm, its effect is very swift. The king ate, and when he urged the minister to eat as well, the minister said, “Yes, sir, first you; I have time, don’t worry.” They went to the party. The king was seated, and the music played. The first dancer appeared—everybody was captivated, all eyes on that girl. The king said to his minister, “…” and the minister said, “Sir, now joy is coming. Look, beautiful girls are dancing.” The king replied, “I cannot. I must go.” The minister pressed, “This is joyful to see…”—not the toilet. The king cut him off, “I know. Move over here.” He went, and returned. The minister asked, “How are you, sir?” Oh, Ānanda. And so, whatever is happening, accept it. That is it. It is in the destiny. So what is the best thing? The best is only God’s name. Meditate. Our destiny is in His hands. That is all. Therefore, He is Dīna Bandhu, Dīnānātha, Merī Ḍorī Tere Hātha. Dīna Bandhu—dīna means the meek, the lost, the miserable one, the poor. Dīna Bandhu means the friend of the meek. You are everything, God, for me. You are my mother, father, my relatives, my friends, my wealth, my knowledge. You are everything, Lord. Dīna Bandhu, you are the best friend of the meek. Dīnānātha, Lord of all. Merī Ḍorī Tere Hātha—the rope of my life is in your hands, like a puppet on a string. Do something, please. Move me so that sometimes I come closer to you, O my Lord. Dīna Bandhu, Dīnānātha, Merī Ḍorī Tere Hātha. We shall always trust in God. There is a supreme power, a super consciousness, a super power, and that can only be God. When we are in His bhakti, His love flows through us. And when with that love we offer service, we come to others and others share with us. We share our love with them, but it is not our love—it is His love. And we are not giving it to ourselves or to others; we are giving it back to Him. When it is yours, you have given it to me, but it remains yours, and I give it back to you. What do I lose, Lord? Nothing. It was yours—so this body is yours, Lord. This intellect is yours, Lord. Everything—my feelings, my thoughts, my being, each of my breaths and heartbeats—is yours, Lord. It is for you. Whenever you feel desperate, it is said: “Jaba jaba mana ghabarāye, tuma prārthanā karo”—whenever you feel scared, pray. “Jaba rāhā najara nahīṁ āye, tuma prārthanā karo”—when you see no way out, no solution, what to do? Then prayer. So the final judgment is this: “Terī Bītī Umara Hari Nāma Binā Śumāraṇa Karale Mere Mana...” Therefore, Guru Nānaka Jī Mahārāja said—after witnessing all the paraphernalia of saṁsāra, the world—he was at home with his family and saw that one family member complained, another was angry, another unhappy, this and that. Suddenly he felt burdened. He just wanted peace and went onto the roof of his house to be a little peaceful. And what did he see? The neighbor on the right: the neighbor’s wife shouting at her husband, “You are stupid! You are lazy!” and so on. On the other side, a man came home and told his wife, “Are you crazy? You just sit—you haven’t cooked. I am coming home from hard work.” She replied, “Yes, I will do it, but what?” And he was shouting and fighting. He sat straight. Across the street, children were fighting. He turned to the back of the house—there too, quarreling people. So Guru Nānaka Sāhiba said, “Nānaka dukhīyā saba sansāra”—the whole world is troublesome. “Caḍha koṭhī dekhi ghara ghara yahī hāla”—I climbed onto the roof and saw that the same trouble is in every house. Therefore, sometimes yogīs, sādhus, swāmīs renounce and go away to lead a peaceful life. Finally, you have to come to that peace. This worldly entanglement—yeh parpañca—will always remain. Therefore, finally, whom to blame? Who is right and who is wrong? What is right and what is wrong? Who am I to judge, as long as I don’t know myself? Until I know myself, why should I judge negatively or positively? Just observe—be the witness. So, śumiraṇa karale—the best for you is to repeat your mantra, prayer; śumiraṇa, śumiraṇa, śumiraṇa. At the end of this bhajana, he said, “Kāma krodha madalobha niyāro, īrṣā choḍo bhakta janā.” But someone wrote it incorrectly—it is not by Santa Jñānā, because a sant cannot be one who has īrṣā. Īrṣā means duality, jealousy. No krodha (anger). If you have krodha, you are not a saint. Keha Nānaka Sāhiba—Gurū Nānaka Sāhiba Jī said, “Isa jaga meṁ nahīṁ koī apanā.” Nobody is ours in this world. No one. Ye jhūṭā saṁsāra—this saṁsāra is not a reality. As long as you are healthy, beautiful, working hard, this and that, all will love you. On the day you can no longer do anything and are only lying at home, lazy and idle, then all will be angry with you. So see how they love you—your parents, your neighbors, your loved ones. “Isa jaga meṁ nahīṁ koī apanā”—the Mahāmantra always. Mahāprabhujī said: Catch the truth, hold the truth, and repeat the name of Sāī (God). In this world, no one is yours. And that is because the world is changeable and changing. Your very loving, dear friend one day goes away from you, and you say, “No, I don’t want that.” And you know, in the beginning, Nānaka Sāhiba said: a child stays only with the mother, doesn’t know where the father is, or the father is divorced. What is the condition of that child? A small child. And therefore they were all against divorce. Especially when you have children, you should not make the mistake of getting a divorce. When you have one child, you are now a father—finished. No more marriage, no other partner. Hari Om. Everything has been given to your children. But when your child gets engaged, then your child is gone. He is not yours anymore; he has left your hands. He is in the hands of the girl or the boy. And when your child marries, then all your properties are in both hands. And when you have grandchildren, your eating is finished—you have to give all the chocolate to the grandchild, yes? So, when you have one child, you are finished. For what did you marry? You married to have a child. Now you have it at home. Yet still you are not content, you search elsewhere, and you don’t speak. Think of your child—and you get divorced, and you want to find another husband or wife. That has made the world confusing. So we follow that principle. And of course, why does one divorce? Because situations are like that, conditions are like that. The atmosphere at home becomes unbearable for him or her. It’s not easy that one would like to divorce. Purījī, Purījī… But better bread makes you run to the farmer, even if he never went to school. If he doesn’t work, your stomach will not get bread. Can you get bread out of your computer? At most, a picture. So we have lost practical knowledge—the talent of how to live, how to survive, and to maintain these educations as a human being. Our destiny is the fruit of our deeds from this life and past lives. When you met me today, whether you are happy or not, it was your destiny that you had to meet me. Perhaps you wanted to see somebody else; you open the door and say, “Oh God, again he is sitting there.” You were expecting someone else, but this is in your destiny. And also, when I came—oh, how nice you all are here. You are all in my destiny; you are in my view. We are all servants of Gurudeva, all bhaktas of Mahāprabhujī, Gurujī, Devpurījī. And through that, as long as we feel that we are protected, we protect ourselves. In India, on the roads, many good things are written. Here also, on the highways now, after people went to India and came back, they have begun to write something. “Alcohol kills.” “Alcohol on staring kills.” Good sentences, no? And in recent years there was a picture of an animal sitting on a dry tree with vultures, with the caption, “We are waiting for you.” It means high speed kills. Similarly, in India many good words are written. And also, “Bacāva meṁ hī bacāva hai”—protection lies in protecting. If you protect against an accident, you are protected. If you cause an accident, you are also involved in the accident. That’s it. So the best is to accept destiny and say, “God will judge; I am not.” And Gurujī said: “Bāṇā Bāḍā Gurudeva Kā Śunu Mādhavānanda, Graha Goṣara Vyāpe Nahī Mīṭe Kāla Kā Bhaṇḍa.” This rope of protection that Gurudeva has given you—the protection of Gurudeva is the greatest thing. Believe it. Graha Goṣara Vyāpe Nahī—no unfavorable constellation will attack you. And Mīṭe Kāla Kā Bhaṇḍa—this Kāla (death, Yama) will go away from you. So a guru’s devotee should not be like those who resort to yantras, tantras, certain mantras, miracles, and such. If you are Guru Bhaktas, nothing will happen; no black magic can touch you, no black magic can come to you. And if someone is doing black magic to you, ask that person, “Why do you do this to me? What do you want?” As if some president of a big country can give you something—I am a poor one, I have nothing. Why do you do magic against me? So, no magic—the thing is only psychological “black magic,” what we call frightening. Someone said, “Well, I have a second spirit in me.” No. Look, put water in a katorī (bowl) or cup, and the moon is shining in the sky. Look inside; you will see only one moon, not two. If you want to see two moons in one bowl, you have to put a barrier between. Then you see the moon on this side and that side, but not two at the same time. Similarly, you are that One; there is only one soul within you—one consciousness, one spirit. You are that. So don’t be like that. Something is happening, and I am ill, and I can’t work. All obstacles Gurudeva can remove. All obstacles He can remove. Therefore, it is said: “Sataguru Rākhe Lāja, Cintā Mata Karanā, Nirbhaya Raho Niśaṅka Kabhī Mata Ḍaranā.” Satguru Dev will protect us. Don’t worry. Be brave. Don’t be scared. All will be well. Therefore, positive thinking and positive love mean devotion. If there is no devotion, that love becomes disturbing love. And that love will create conflict, doubts, darkness—obstacles on your spiritual path—and whatever spiritual sādhanā you have done until today will be lost. Therefore, bhakti. And so there is a bhajana that says: “Janama dhāra biśarāhu nāhīṁ,” Lord, when you want to give me something, I don’t want diamonds, I don’t want a house, I don’t want a wife or children or position or anything. No, no, no. I want only one thing from you. If you want to give me, donate to me—bhakti. I beg for that. O Gurudeva, you are the Lord of lords. Janama dhāra biśarāhu nāhīṁ— in every life, bless me that I am not separated from you. That’s what I’m asking. I’m not asking for a big herd of elephants, no diamond mines, no kingdom of the entire planet Earth. No, only one: your mercy, your devotion, love for you. And when that enters your heart, you become the recipient, and you understand everything. So I am ready to do anything, Lord, but be with me; that’s all. Don’t leave me alone. Don’t let me be that bird closed in the cage of saṁsāra. There is a song—maybe tomorrow I will translate it for you: O bird of the cage, no one knows your pain. Can you imagine a bird in a small cage? A bird’s nature is to fly and be free in the forest, in nature. And you caught this bird in a cage. You think it is good, and it is your bird. But what is the inner pain? It is a lifelong prison. What? Poor bird—it can’t even expand its wings, use them to take off and fly from one branch to another, eat some fruits, and enjoy other family members. Therefore, according to animal rights, it is a crime to keep animals in a cage. It is not good, because they are creatures of this planet, free in the forest. Let them be there, in whichever country, in whichever climate they belong. That’s it. You may have a house pet—a dog, a cow, a buffalo, a horse. Okay, they are family members; they are not for your eating. Who are you to kill them? That’s it. Everyone feels pain. Recently, I turned on the television wanting to see a program on CNN News about the Pakistan flood. I put on the programs—number one, two, three (I have my old television)—and there was a documentary. They showed this picture. You may not be able to see it, so you may put it off or close it. It showed a cow. They pulled her down and cut her neck halfway, and let it bleed—blood was flowing. Cows have a lot of blood, no? And the cow was breathing in pain, tried to raise its head up three times, then fell down. Can we do this with these hands? Kabīrajī, the great saint, said: These hands God gave you to give something—helping hands, not killing hands. Saint Kabīra Dāsa Jī said: “Dīpa Nārāyaṇa Bhagavāna kī…” — O, don’t fall into attachment, moha, moha kā bandhana (the tie of attachment is very strong). Many have died in this tide of moha. It is very hard to cut this chain; it is a thick metal chain. Only a special technique can cut it. Otherwise, it is janama janama kā bandhana—bondage of lifetime after lifetime. Bandhana se mukta karanā, bandhana se nirbandhana kī nā. The Gurudeva makes us nirbandha—free from this tie of saṁsāra. When the door of the cage is open, you fly in your world, happy, happy. You don’t know the happiness of that bird in the climate to which it belongs—free, free, free. So there is a movement of ahiṁsā, also toward animals, not only humans. There are human rights, human protection, and the like. Therefore, accept destiny and work for that—which means to pray, and only He can free us. And so the great saint Sūradāsa, a blind saint—Sūradāsa means by birth he was blind. He thought, “Why am I blind? What happened? I must have caused someone’s eye to be destroyed—perhaps I destroyed someone’s eyes.” (And you know, there are people who like to eat the eyes of animals.) Sūradāsajī said, “It doesn’t matter, Lord, what I have done. Now, please, I have come to Thee; only You can forgive me. Please do not notice or look at my karma, my deeds. You are the One who has equal vision, so You will love me also, even if I am a sinner.” And so, Sūradāsa’s bhajana, a beautiful bhajana: “Sama Dṛṣṭi Hai Nāma Tihāro, Cāhe Tū… Pāra Karo, Prabhujī Mere Avaguṇa Citta Na Dharo, Prabhujī Mere Avaguṇa Citta Na Dharo… Sama Dṛṣṭi Hai Nāma Tihāro Cāhe Tū Pār Karo, Dhṛmacitta Na Dharo…” Mahādeva, Dharma Samrāṭ, Satguru Svāmī Mādhavānanda Jī Bhagavān, Gajānana Jī Mahārāja, Sanātana Dharma kī, Śeṣanāga Jī Mahārāja kī Jaya.