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Part 1: A Prayer for Protection and Peace Asato mā sad gamaya, tamaso mā jyotir gamaya, mṛtyor mā amṛtam gamaya. Lead us from unreality to reality, from darkness to light, from mortality to immortality. Oṁ deepa jyoti parabrahma, deepaṁ sarve mohanaṁ, deepaṁ sarve saṁjāte, sarva sandhyā deepaṁ sarvasatyam. Śubhaṁ karoti kalyāṇam, ārogyaṁ dhana sampada, śatru buddhi vināśāya, deepa jyoti namastute, deepa jyoti namastute. Good evening, dear sisters and brothers. Welcome. Today is another beautiful day, a day which reminds us again and again of the protection of our planet. Yes, our planet is suffering. Mother Earth is suffering, and when Mother is suffering, then all her children are suffering. All children—the different creatures on this planet, including vegetation. Out of 8.4 million different creatures, the cause of her suffering is one who is very naughty and does not respect the Mother: humans. We have no more feeling of non-violence toward Mother Earth. We have no more respect for our Mother Earth. Our greed is limitless. All these situations which happen in the world are due to humans. But humans should know that humans are not the almighty. Humans cannot and will never be able to challenge God or to be above God. The abilities of the human are zero. All kinds of development that humans think they create is connected with distractions. The God-made world is perfect, and the man-made world is imperfect. If we, all humans, learn to respect nature, Mother Earth, and limit our needs, I think our planet will be different. Unfortunately, many people do not think like that, and that’s why day by day, problems are created. Humans are born, or God has created humans, as protectors and as helpers. We shall try to create understanding, harmony, and love. We should not create conflicts, we should not create doubts, we should not create fears, and we should not create physical pollution. This physical pollution—whether petrol, chemicals, or many other things—is born out of the human mind. So the mental pollution is more dangerous than physical pollution. Mental pollution is that dry intellect, negative intellect. Positive intellect is harmonized, balanced, and connected to the heart. Only the intellect which is connected to the brain and to the lower chakras, where jealousy, greed, anger, hatred, and such qualities exist. The human heart is believed to be a holy heart. There is one great saint who said, "In every heart is my God, my Lord." It doesn’t matter if it’s animals, birds, any tiny creature, or humans. In every heart, in every one, life is God, God is life. And that life is love, and love is God, and God is love. Where there’s life, there’s God. If you want to see God, then see all the beautiful, different creatures, of course. Love does not mean you just go to the crocodile and say, "I love you, my one." The crocodile would say, "I too love you." For that, God has given us something between these two ears to utilize. There is a tritāpa, three kinds of fire. Here, this fire means troubling fire, suffering, giving troubles: ādhibhautik, ādhidaivik, and ādhyātmik. These are three powers which are attacking every creature, as well as humans. Three tapas. When you have some physical problems, mental problems, health problems, and neighbor’s problems, it means these three forces, which are against you, are too active, too strong. It is very difficult to become free from tritāpa. So try to protect from tritāpa through mantras, through prayers. Holy Gurujī tells in one of his bhajans that these tritapas, including the sin, will be purified and neutralized. Teno, three. Tāp means this heat, the troubles. Paap is the sin. These three tapas develop through our sins. Teno itāpa pāpa mitjāve—deleted. Mitjana means deleted. Avicalla Sukha Pave Paramanandan, Avicalla Sukha Pave Paramanandan. Śrī Dīpa Janasabhā Dukha Banjan Prabhu Dīpa Niranjan, Isī Mātṛase Hove Man Manjan. So, all three forces which come out of our sins will be removed. Avichala sukha pāvayā. Avichala. Chala and achala. Chala means movable. Achala means unmovable. Movable is that which is not permanent, the changing. That which is not movable is called the permanent. That’s called nitya, akhaṇḍa, ajara, amara—everlasting, unbreakable, unmovable, immortal. That is the ātmā, God, divine. But we, with our limited experiences, with our limited intellect, with our limited desires, and our endless ignorance—that is endless—maybe I said my ignorance is endless. Perhaps you are very wise, but who am I to say that you are not? This is what creates changes of the mood, changes of the situation, many, many things. So, avichala sukha pāvahe. Sukha means happiness, pleasure, pleasant, śukha. Prapti cāhata hai, duḥkha ki prapti nahīṁ. Every entity requires or longs for happiness; they don’t want unhappiness. For us humans, maybe... Different happiness, other creatures, different happiness, but that happiness is to free ourselves from the fear of death, the fear of suffering. We know sooner or later, one day, we will die, but we don’t know how. That is, we are afraid of that. Will we suddenly die, or somewhere there will be a fire and we can’t get out, and slowly, slowly... Can you imagine a life where you are burning in the fire? Oh my God, I don’t want this. Gurudev, please protect me from this tapas. In Oakland, no, sorry, in Christchurch, there was a big earthquake. Some people were under the building material; it fell down. In someone’s thigh went an iron rod. In someone, half from the head side was cut; it was lying there, bleeding. Can you imagine how painful it is? Such a person did not die only once. They died a million times. Every second, quarter second was unbearable pain. And from that, we are afraid. We are scared of that, so we pray to God, and therefore it is said in the Mahāmṛtyuñjaya Mantra: like a ripe fruit or a melon—that’s a special sugar melon—when it’s ripe, automatically, without suffering, separates from the plant nicely. Similarly, O Lord, when my life is so far, separate me from this world without suffering. That means lead me to immortality, so that I will not again be born and die, and be born and die. Unchangeable happiness you will achieve. Which happiness? Supreme bliss. Through what? Through this mantra, we can purify our mind. Our mind is polluted by many, many things, and that pollution of our mind may be desire, ego, jealousy, hate, greed, and many, many different things. That is day and night torturing us. People think and ask Swamiji, "How to control the mind? I want to kill my mind." You cannot. You cannot. Why can your mind not be controlled, or why can you not kill your mind, those negative desires? Because of mamatva, bandhana, moha—attachment. You didn’t kill your attachment. That’s why you couldn’t control or kill that negative mind. Man marā, na mamatā marī, because that mamatā, mamatvahi bandhan kā kāraṇ hotā hai, moho hī bandhan kā kāraṇ hai, moho. Therefore, it is said in one bhajan: "Aisī Karī Gurū Dev Dayā, Merā Moha Kā Bandhan Toṛ Diyā. Aisī Karī Gurū Dev Dayā, Merā Moha Kā Bandhan Toṛ Diyā." Sorry, "mohakka bandhan toḍ diyā, mere cañcal cit ko moṛ diyā. Mohakka bandhan toḍ diyā, mere cañcal cit ko moṛ diyā." So, my Gurudev was so merciful to me, he cut off, or he broke, the chain of my moha, attachment. Moha also means ignorance. So that one has changed my mind. My mind is so restless, but it was running all the time, there and here. Gurudev had twisted my mind in one direction, that goes all the time only towards God. It has no other way anyway. So, man marā anna mamatā marī, marā marā gayā śarīra. Oh, my dear, man is not killed. Your body is killed. Your body, you are born again. Man is there. Mind is always there. Why? Why couldn’t you? Why couldn’t you master your mind? Because āśā tṛṣṇā na mari. Asha means hope, expectation, and expectation will lead to disappointment. Āśā and tṛṣṇā means burning desires, longing for it, burning desire. If you would have that much longing towards God, God will come very quick to you. There is a story of one great saint, and his name all India knows; many of you know. His name was Tulsīdāsjī. Tulsīdāsjī, who wrote the holy Rāmāyaṇa, the life of the god Rāma. The Rāmāyaṇa is a holy, beautiful, beautiful book, and you should see the Rāmāyaṇa also; they put it in videos. What a great wisdom and great love. You will understand the weakness of humans. You will understand the kindness of humans, the wisdom of humans, the desires of humans. Many, many, many. And how God has to go with all these difficulties together. Tulsidas, when he was a young man, was married. There’s a tradition after marriage when the girl goes with her husband and stays a few days or one month with him, and then again goes to her parents’ house and stays there one or two months. So Tulsidās was living on the other side of the river, and the house of his parents-in-law was on the other side of the riverbank. After a few days, he was longing to see her so much, but at the same time, he was a little bit shy to go there. If you go without invitation, then everybody says, "What kind of man is this?" Without any correctness, without anything. So, this tradition is something also. Some people say this tradition is not a tradition; it’s a tradable. But he decided in a night to go and visit her. How to cross the river? There was water, a lot of water inside. There was some dead body of some animal floating in the river. He caught that, and he tried to pull to the other side, the bank of the river, and he came there. About one o’clock in the night, he came from behind that house and window. He knew which room his wife was sleeping in, and he knocked on the window. She opened it and saw him. He was happy. She was, of course, also happy, but she said something to him, and that went into his heart like a knife. Sometimes we need an accident to be more careful driving, you know. She said to him, "My dear, of course I’m very, very happy that you came. But as much as you love me, if that much you would have loved God, you would be a different person." That young man felt that she refused him, neglected him. What she told went like a knife into his heart. He said, "Yes, my dear, it will be." And he went. He renounced everything. Now all Indians, all billions of people, adore that tyāga of Tulsīdāsjī and wisdom. He had a self-realization; even God Rāma used to come to Tulsīdāsjī, and Hanumānjī used to come to Tulsīdāsjī. One day Tulsīdāsjī asked Hanumānjī, "When and how will I see God Rāma? Where is he?" And Hanumanjī said, "Every day, God Rāma is coming to the bank of the Gaṅgā in Chitrakūṭa for bathing, and what he likes, he said, Rāma likes always after bathing he makes this tilak. So what to do? He said, 'You just go on and make the sandalwood paste for the tilaks.' And then Rāma comes, then you can give him tilak, he will be very happy." Hanumānjī was sitting somewhere in a hidden forum, and Tulsīdāsjī was with great love. He had a big piece of sandalwood on the stone. He was grinding, making sandalwood paste. It smells beautiful. God Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa came. They took a bath and they dressed. They were waiting for a while near Tulsidās, that he would make a tilak. He did not. So Rāma himself took this paste from there and made a tilak and went away. Hanumānjī said, "Hey guy, what did you say, Hanumānjī?" He said, "I told you the reality. What? You see in this crowd of the sādhus, all these saints, Rāma was with them. He had a bath. You were just making the sandalwood paste. And you know, God, he took this paste and made a tilaka and went away. Why didn’t you tell me, Bhīṣma? How should I tell? I don’t dare to tell because it is your matter and God’s matter." Such a Tulsīdās who had a longing, and he had God Rāma’s darśan, and he wrote a beautiful, beautiful book, which all Indians, Hindus, and many other also different religions, people, when once they read this book, they adore it as a holy book. Great, great. So, sometimes you need something that can awaken you. You have to come to clear thoughts. But in this Kali Yuga now, there are more negativities, more blackmailing, more of this. So, we are confused in this world. So, āśā, kṛṣṇa, longing. I want to rely on this. I want to get this. My business should become better. My this, my that, my, my... You will die in this body, and again the soul will go somewhere with its destiny, and will be again born. Tritapa. So to become free from this is tritāpa, and these tritāpas are: one is the disturbances from the other creatures, including humans. You would like to live peacefully, but your neighbor doesn’t let you be in peace. This, it is. You would like to walk peacefully, but there is somebody who does this stuff. Where is the peace? Some saint wrote a bhajan: "Mājī, O Mājī, kitnā dūr kinārā, moī dūr nagariyā jānā. O Mother, O Mother, Divine Mother, how far is a soul? I have to go to the far distance. Where is the peaceful shore? Black clouds, lightning, high waves, my boat is sinking. Oh mother, oh mother, where is the peaceful shore? I have to go very far. Kāma krodh ne mujhko gherā, lobha moha kā bhaya andherā. Kāma, krodha, lobha, moha has attacked me. Oh mother, oh mother, where is the peaceful shore?" So we would like to live in peace, but there are different creatures, different humans. You said, "Okay, I will go into the forest, sit, and meditate there." You sit there. After three minutes, a mosquito comes, zzzz, zzzz, and then you say, "Oh, a snake is coming!" Where is the peace? So we are disturbed by all these different creatures. And the human intellect, human kindness is that we have possibilities, and we can protect ourselves from other creatures. So protection is in protection. Protect thyself to protect others too. So it means not that you go to the crocodile and say, "I love you, my dear." He will say, "Yes." Or go to the elephant and say, "I love you." He will just do like this, and you are down. Love means our positive thinking. Love means our kindness. Love means that we should not disturb them, and so on. That is a pure love. Then, second is the karmic. And karmic are the disturbances from the other side. Also, about if you have something to do with the law, if you have to do something like this, and illnesses. You have to go to the hospitals, you have no money, this suffering, now you have that pain, now you have this pain. This is also karmic. Don’t blame anyone. We have to go through these karmas. How? Interesting thing. One mother has two children: one is completely healthy and the other is ill. Both are from the same mother, the same father, but their karmas are different. Parents can give you birth, but they cannot give you destiny, my dear. Destiny is your own production of your karmas. And then there is the problem from the higher levels, the spirits, the ghosts, maybe, whether you believe or not. Something like with the planets and different astral worlds. If you think that I will make a suicide and be happy, problems are here gone, no, no, no. All problems will follow you like a shadow of your body will follow you everywhere. Everything that you would like to solve, God has given you the birth to work. That’s why the earth, our planet, is now known as a karmabhūmi, karma and dharma. This is the planet of karma, where we can do something to become free or take more. More things, burdens, as a bet, backpack, rucksack, and travel through the whole universe again, fluttering on the waves of the times. Do not blame anyone. It is your karma. It is your karma. Only you can pray to God. Do not even blame God. Say, Lord, finally, you are the Almighty. I surrender to Thee. Merciful Lord, bless me. Give me good thoughts, my Lord. I have enough now. Did you ever think what will be with you? The last, last breath when you will take, do you know what will be with you? Therefore it is said, "Govinda, oh Bhagavān, oh Lord, this is my." Pray to thee, finally, I don’t ask for money, I don’t ask for a house, a car; this I have enough, feather from this. Finally, I ask for one thing, my Lord, that is, call it call of the soul from the heart, that. It is a call of the devotee’s bhakti to God. Lord, this is my prayer: that I never forget your name. It doesn’t matter what happens, but your name should always be in my memory. My Lord, Thy name may I chant day and night. By each and every heartbeat, the flow of my blood through my veins should only have resonance of Thy name, God. Thy name, my Lord. So, we believe in different forms of the gods, okay? I believe in different, you believe different. Finally, God is only one, and that’s God. And I have one request more, Lord. Lord, at the end of my life, I have one wish: at the end of my life. You appear to me, and O Krishna, play your beautiful flute so that my entire being merges into that divine resonance. That’s the sound in which you put your prāṇa, out of your prāṇa which the sound comes. At the end of my life, I don’t want to think of my husband, my wife, my days, my house, my car, my bank, my company, my dress, my jewelry, my suitcase, my papers. No, all of my things, this will all be here. Only one thing, that you are in front of me, that my life will become successful. Part 2: The Final Breath and the Flower's Petal At the moment of death, you are present, playing your divine flute, O Lord, captivating my mind. My mind becomes so one with Thee that nothing else is of interest. May I sing this Name and give up my body. Which Name? The Name of God, my dear. That should be our final wish and desire—not distinctions of bad or right, good or not. That is worldly. We call it parpañca. This is called vikṣepa and kleśa. This will always be. Therefore, ultimately, there is an astral world. Some energy from our karma remains. So, do not cause anyone pain, fear, or threat. Do not obstruct the step towards God. That is the point. How, then, is a human heart filled with love? A holy saint said, "Sab ghaṭa mera saiyāṁ." My Lord is in every heart, in every creature. "Koī ghaṭa khalī nahīṁ." No heart is empty. All represent God’s light. But my adoration and respect are for that heart in which God begins to speak, and that heart is a human heart. Therefore, in your heart, it is God who is talking, my dear, not you. When you begin to utilize only this upper part—the dry intellect—it will confuse you. It will one day lead you astray, and you will say, "I relied only on my dry, negative intellect." When this intellect touches the bottom of the heart, then things become so beautiful, so pleasant. Nothing is unpleasant. When you lose the feelings of the heart and go to anger, doubt, and jealousy, it does not mean God is punishing you. You are punishing yourself. See how restless and unhappy you become. In this, reduce things. Gurujī said, "Enter the kingdom of the Lord through the gate of sacrifice." Mahātmā Gandhījī said, "Renounce and enjoy." Renounce your needs. Limit your needs. Mother Earth has enough for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed, as Gandhijī said. This is the Vedic teaching. Gandhījī was a great bhakta of God Rāma. Had he been a devotee of Kṛṣṇa or Jesus, at the end he would have said, "Oh Kṛṣṇa" or "Oh Jesus." But he said, "Hey Rām." His favorite bhajan was: "Sītā Rām, Sītā Rām,... Sītā Rām,... Sītā Rām, Sītā Rām. Rāma, the king of the dynasty of the Raghu. O Lord Rāma, you are the savior and liberator of all sinners. Your mercy can liberate everyone. Ishwar or Allah, this all is thy name, O Rāma." Thus, Gandhiji's last breath went with "Hey Rām." We all wish that our last breath should go with the name of God, and God should appear. That is called Self-realization, God-realization, ātmā-jñāna. Before Self-realization, you only have the self: "I am, I am right, I am this and that." But finally, in the last minute, every calculation will be there. Everything will be created and given to you at that time. How will that time be? You are enlightened. At that time, God is in front of you, or Yama, the king of death, sends messengers to pull you back with chains. Who knows? No one can see how our soul is taken away. We sit with our beloved, hold their hands, close our eyes and say, "Don’t worry, please make your journey to the light." This is what we humans imagine we can do. But you do not know who came and who took it. The leaf broke from the branch. The wind has blown it away. This separation—when will we come together again? We do not know. We will fall down somewhere far away. The wind of destiny and our karma will take this body and our soul where it will; we do not know, my dear. But God has given us the human heart, human intellect, human devotion, human knowledge, and human qualities so that we can achieve everything. Do not give up hope. It will be. Remain. Trust. That is why we say we trust in God. Even on American dollar notes it is written: "In God We Trust." How beautiful. And we have our national slogan: "Satyam eva jayate"—truth alone triumphs. And which truth? "Brahma satyam, jagat mithyā." Finally, search for that Truth, not for this: "My car was stolen by this or that person." This is the parpañca of the world. Therefore, Brahma Satyam, Jagat Mithyā: lead life with a kind of limitation. I have one story. A master had many disciples. But do not think that all who sit are true disciples. There is a caller, a flower, a follower, and a follower who falls away. Some are like the beauty of different flowers in a garden. Some will truly follow your footsteps. Some will fall away quickly. To find disciples? Oh, it is not easy to understand Guru-bhakti, what the Guru can automatically give. You know Swami Vivekānanda’s name is great; many know him. But his master was greater: Paramahaṁsa Rāmakṛṣṇa, my God, a great soul. Ramakrishna blessed many people; he touched the heads of many millions. But when he touched the head of Vivekānanda, Vivekānanda attained Divine Consciousness, samādhi. Now, the question: did he not want to give to anybody else, or was Vivekānanda the only one capable of receiving? Love is from both sides, not one-sided. Two hands together can make a sound, not one. When one makes a sound, it can create problems. The vessel, the patra, should be clean. Then jñāna, the sadguru’s grace, can enter. Otherwise, it will not. You take a mantra and think, "I will repeat it sometimes." It is gone. Understand: there is a bird in the desert, very thirsty and crying for water. Big clouds come, and she opens her mouth, looking to the sky, thinking, "The drop will fall directly into my mouth." That is mumukṣutva. Such a disciple can receive something. Otherwise, I tell you, and you listen. That is better than nothing. Do not ask, "Who will be that one?" It is like a football field. Twenty-two players are standing. Who will kick the ball into the goal? Everyone has the right. This is Rām Nām Kī Bol Hai. This is the football of the name of God. Whoever plays with concentration and care will take that goal. Gurudev had one disciple, a young man serving and doing seva and ashram work, like many of you. All who came said, "Swamiji, this is a great bhakta. He is with you all the time, serving you. How much he loves you!" One day, that young man, about twenty years old, disappeared. He said, "Swamiji, I am going to a big city." Let us say to Oakland. Gurudev said, "Okay, go." He went and never wrote a letter. Ten years passed—no telephones, telegrams, or messages. Then the other disciples said, "You see, Swāmījī, your close disciples do not stay; they go away. We thought he was a great disciple. What happened? Why does he not come?" Gurudev said, "Everyone has their own time. Who are you to judge anyone? My love for him is equal. I know he loves me, and I love him. His coming here does not mean he loves me more. His not coming is his decision." They said, "You know, he became a very great merchant. He has a lot of business, investing a lot of money." People would tell me, "Mr. Neil Patel brings friends and says, 'You see, Swami, he is a very rich man.'" Of course, I knew who he was. They said, "Oh Swamiji, if he comes back and is still your disciple, we could have a big ashram." I said, "Do not worry. We have a big ashram; we have a big heart." One day, a postcard came—not even a letter. It said: "Gurudev, Pranam. Forgive me for not writing for so long, but there was a reason. I humbly request you to please come visit me. Next week, I will send you a first-class train reservation." Everyone said, "Swamiji, this is a miracle! Now the person is so famous that people long to meet him." There is a saying: "Nānā wālā nātā jī, and binā nānā nū na thiyo. Nana hoi na, to baḍā prem kare. Jaḍā nana wala hoi to, kem to me am tia bata so bhai, agla hoi na?" What do humans want to say? If you have money, you are a gentleman. "Sir, please sit up here." If someone has no money and always asks for something, "Okay, please sit down there." That is how selfish we are. The postcard came. They were all happy. A ticket came. They said, "Swamiji, now we will have a big fence around our ashram, and this and that." Gurujī said, "I do not need anything. I go to bless him because he invites me." They said, "No, Swamiji, you must tell him. How should he know what you want?" He said, "I do not want." They said, "But we want." He went to the railway station (there were no airplanes then). A man came with twenty people, with flowers and a car. Gurujī observed that in ten years he had done something. He had a big villa. Evening came for prayer. The disciple told a servant to light the ghee lamp for prayer and the incense (agarbatī). The servant took a matchbox and used one matchstick to light the ghee lamp, a second for the incense, and a third for a petroleum lamp (as there was electricity). The disciple became very angry at the servant. Gurujī was standing there and thought, "My God, for one mistake he is shouting at this poor boy. He has sucked half a kilo of blood with his shouting. I had hoped he would help with some money, but it does not matter." He stayed ten days. Then Gurujī said, "I will go now. I have been here ten days. I am blessed and happy that you are comfortable and have everything." The disciple said, "Okay, Gurujī, I will buy a ticket." He bought a ticket and brought it to the railway station. The two bhaktas who had come with Gurujī from the village asked, "Gurujī, did he give you a donation?" He said, "No, I did not come for that." "But he should have given you something." Gurujī said, "Do not worry. He gave us hospitality and food; that is more than anything." The disciple guided Guruji into the first-class coach. Guruji sat down. With three minutes before the train would start, the disciple gave him an envelope. Gurujī looked inside and saw many zeros. He said, "How? Did you forget to put a decimal point?" The disciple said, "Swamiji, this is nothing. Phool nahīṁ, phool kī paṅkhuḍī hai. Gurudev, this is not a whole flower. It is only one petal of the flower that I am giving you, all through your blessings." Gurudev said, "Rīdhi siddhi tamāra charaṇamā." Then Gurujī asked, "Why did you shout at the poor servant for three matchsticks?" The disciple was nervous. He said, "Gurudev, with one matchstick we can light everything. Why use two or three? If you have thirty matchsticks in a box and use one per day, it lasts a month. If you use two, it lasts fifteen days. If you use three, only ten days." That is called sustainability in Vedic education. It means: limit your needs. Now, people bring vegetables and cut three centimeters off each side, peeling it all away. What is left is nothing. Do you think spraying affects only the skin? When they spray, it goes into the whole vegetable or fruit. There are plasters for diabetes; medicine enters the body through the skin. So when they spray, it goes everywhere. Do not waste so many things. Apples, you peel them. Sometimes I feel sorry. In India, I saw 200 people cutting bhindi (lady fingers), cutting one centimeter off and throwing it away. I saw the basket and said, "No, no, bring it here." I sat down, cleaned it, and salvaged the edible parts. It was enough vegetable for 20 people. For the worker, it does not matter; it is not his money. They just throw it. "Use and throw"—but where do you throw? So many things. Do not use too much. Many people have a habit: every day, go under the shower, use so much shampoo, soap, scrub. It is necessary, but use only what is needed. That is sustainability. Therefore, we are sitting here, and we have enough light to see the altar. Why is it necessary to have 25 or 27 bulbs burning in this 200-square-meter spot? We should learn to save; that is sustainability. I am not a connoisseur, but I try to live with limited things. Sometimes it is very hard for me, and people cannot understand me—and I understand that they cannot. Everyone comes and brings me this gift. The second one brings that. The third brings something else. Now I have to put it here, but they say, "Oh my God, it is like a supermarket." Then someone comes and says, "Swami, this is a very nice glass vase for you." If I leave it here and do not take it with me, everyone will be angry. "I brought it with great love, and look, this Swami, with ego, did not even take it." What should I do? Dharam Sankat, Bhai. Dharam Sankat. So I respect your devotion and honor. I have to take it. And if I immediately give it to someone, he will say, "You see, he took it and gave it away. I brought him a very nice muffler, a scarf. He just gave it away. I searched so long for orange socks for him. I went by bus, dealt with traffic, could not take the car because of a one-way street, came back, and my car was towed. I had to pay so much. Why did I do it? Only to give him orange socks, and he just left?" I have too much luggage. This is the dharma saṅkaṭ of a person or master who has so many bhaktas. But of course, I take it, I use it, then I give it to someone. They take it as prasād, as something special from Swamījī. So, often I have a problem. Mānsā Devī tells me, "Swamījī, you need two apartments, big halls." I say, "For what? For all the presents?" Sometimes a small child gives me a nice painting, and my heart does not allow me to throw it away. Someone gave me a little glass cat, "meow," given by a small child with such great love. How can I just throw it away? These are attachments, but it is love, and you cannot refuse love. So, take what comes, use it, and give it. They will also use it or touch it and pass it on. This is the beautiful thing. Someone stood in the kitchen a long time and made a very nice sweet. Now it is here. Will my Prabhujī eat it all, or will I? This is for all. We should not throw away vegetables unnecessarily. How much you spoil is not good. You bring a cauliflower and throw away the green leaves. Those leaves have the taste of cauliflower and vitamins—the best parts—and you throw them away. You take the florets and boil them in such hot water that whatever vitamins remain are gone. If I cook one day, you will eat your fingers and all. What you throw away could be utilized. So please try to buy only as much as you can utilize and need. Do not throw away, and do not buy unnecessarily. It is not necessary to have 20 pairs of shoes: one for yoga, one for the beach, one for club dancing... My God, so many suits. Next year, maybe the fashion is orange cloth, so you will get all orange. Food is orange, rock is orange, shirt is orange, earrings are orange, lipstick is orange, hair is orange, handbag is orange. And the rest? What will you do? You throw away what you have now. That is it. So this is where we should try to manage the economy of sustainability. This is how the global financial crisis came: too much production, too much manufacturing, and too few consumers. The consumer is so consumed they become rough; they have nothing. So many things. Anyhow, it was a mishmash of a lecture, but I hope it was good. Okay, thank you very much. I wish you all the best, and God bless you. Om shānti.