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Good morning to all my dear brothers and sisters, and good evening to all the devotees of Śrī Mahāprabhujī in Europe, as it is nearly a quarter to twelve there. I wish you all the best with the time change today. We have just come from the opening ceremony for the beautiful new ashram of Śrī Mahāprabhujī, "Yoga and Daily Life," in Waikanae, New Zealand. It is about an hour's drive from Wellington. Now we have three ashrams in the area: one in Kapiti, then Waikanae and Māirā, as well as Ōtaki, Wellington, and Auckland. This new centre, for which we performed a symbolic ceremony today with many devotees present, is a piece of land of a few hectares. It is very nicely located high on the hills, with beautiful views up and down, and is a very peaceful, clean area. Every spiritual person, every person oriented towards charity, who concentrates on the well-being of the entire planet, works hard to create certain centres where people can come together. They live in harmony and work for the well-being of this world. There are two kinds of people in the world. One kind concentrates only on oneself—to make a house, a company, a business, a personal family. This is not bad; I do not say it is bad. But there are other people who mostly create humanitarian, charitable centres for nature, for the protection of wildlife, rivers, lakes, and oceans, and also for the protection of human societies. After long years of experience and work in these fields, especially spiritually developed people—you may call them sādhus, masters, gurus, priests, paṇḍitas, imams, or rabbis—they are more connected through their prayers and spiritual sādhanās to God in their own way. Their experience, and I include myself with them, is that without God or without spiritual development, this world cannot survive. There is one story Gurujī told in his last satsaṅg before he left. It is from the holy Rāmāyaṇa. There were two saints. One was known as a priest and family guru, Guru Vasiṣṭha Muni, the guru of the dynasty of the Raghus, into which God Rāma incarnated. At the same time, there was a great tapasvī ṛṣi who meditated for thousands of years. His name was Viśvāmitra. Because he practiced so many years of meditation and spirituality, Viśvāmitra wished to be called a Brahma Ṛṣi. He wanted the title and recognition. A Brahma Ṛṣi means one whose knowledge of Brahman is complete. He meditated for so many thousands of years. But, you know, sometimes it is a human weakness to desire titles; there is a kind of ambition. Viśvāmitra wanted Guru Vasiṣṭha, as the Rājguru, to declare and call him a Brahma Ṛṣi. But Guru Vasiṣṭha did not say it or call him that. For that, Viśvāmitra did many things that were not good towards Vasiṣṭha Ṛṣi, but Vasiṣṭha digested everything and always maintained a positive and good view. Eventually, Viśvāmitra decided to kill Vasiṣṭha Ṛṣi. It was Śarad Pūrṇimā, a beautiful full moon day in the month of September or October. The air was cool and pleasant. There was an ashram far away in the forest belonging to another ṛṣi. Guru Vasiṣṭha and his wife Arundhatī went to the satsaṅg there. Viśvāmitra learned that Vasiṣṭha would return at midnight. He thought, "I will hide myself behind a bush with a bow and arrow and shoot him." So he sat there, ready. Ambition, doubt, and ego—you see what they can lead one to do. Viśvāmitra sat listening for their voices or footsteps. When they were about ten or twenty meters away from his hiding spot, Arundhatī, the wife of Vasiṣṭha, said, "My lord, how beautiful is this full moon night. How clear is the sky, and the moonlight is so gentle and beautiful." Vasiṣṭha Ṛṣi replied, "Yes, my dear goddess, tonight the radiance of the moon is so beautiful. It makes our body, mind, and heart very calm and relaxed. Today, the radiance of the moon is like the radiance of the Brahma Ṛṣi Viśvāmitra." When Viśvāmitra heard the words "Brahma Ṛṣi Viśvāmitra," he thought, "Oh my God, Guru Vasiṣṭha adores me as a Brahma Ṛṣi." He broke his bow, threw it away, came forward, and held the feet of Guru Vasiṣṭha. He said, "Please excuse me. That is what I was longing to hear from your mouth for so many years—that I am a Brahma Ṛṣi. For this, I committed so many injustices towards you. Please forgive me." Guru Vasiṣṭha said, "No problem. Brahma Ṛṣi is okay. You need not be called by a title. A diamond does not say, 'I am a diamond,' and a diamond does not tell us that we should call it a diamond." Then the Ṛṣi Viśvāmitra said, "Vasiṣṭha Muni, I sacrifice to you 72,000 years of my spiritual practice, my sādhanā. All the fruits of my sādhanā of 72,000 years I render to thee." Guru Vasiṣṭha said, "Ṛṣi, I render to you the fruits of one minute of satsaṅg." Viśvāmitra became angry again. "I gave you 72,000 years, and you give me one minute of satsaṅg?" Vasiṣṭha replied, "Yes, Ṛṣi. One minute of satsaṅg cannot be compared with 72,000 years of tapasyā and sādhanā." Viśvāmitra said, "This is injustice. Let us go to God." They went to Brahmā. Brahmā said, "I cannot give the answer. Perhaps Śiva can give it." They went to Śiva. Śiva said, "Well, I cannot give an answer. It is very complicated. I am not so just; I am not a chief justice. Viṣṇu will do it." They went to Viṣṇu, who was resting on his thousand-headed serpent, Śeṣanāga; Lakṣmījī was there. They asked Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu said, "This answer will be given by my Śeṣanāga, the thousand-headed snake." They asked Śeṣanāga, "O Lord, O God, please tell us: what is more valuable, a minute of satsaṅg or 72,000 years of austerities?" Śeṣanāga said, "Viśvāmitra, I cannot give the answer. On my head is balanced this whole Earth. If I move a little, there will be an earthquake. If you can hold the Earth for a while with the power of your 72,000 years of sādhanā—just hold it for half a minute so it remains steady—I will relax my neck and give you the answer." Viśvāmitrājī said, "I give to you the 72,000 years of sādhanā which I gave to Guru Vasiṣṭha. Please, Mother Earth, remain steady." But the Earth did not lift from the head of Śeṣanāga. Śeṣanāga then looked with his little eyes towards Vasiṣṭha Muni. "Can you do it with your satsaṅg?" Guru Vasiṣṭha said, "I give the fruits of one minute of satsaṅg to Mother Earth. For a while, let Śeṣanāgajī relax his neck." The Earth then remained without support. Satguru Devakī, Jai. Śeṣanāgajī, after a long time, made a Śarāvītāsana, relaxing his head and neck. Viśvāmitra was surprised. He said, "Please give your judgment, Śeṣanāgajī." Śeṣanāgajī said, "What judgment do you want more? It is already given. Mother Earth remained supported by the fruits of one minute of satsaṅg." Therefore, Gurujī said that satsaṅg, where you come together, is the most precious time of your life, and you will receive many good benefits. Conversely, even a quarter minute of kuśaṅga (bad company) can destroy all your spiritual sādhanā, and the Earth will not remain steady; it will become an earthquake. So whenever there is an earthquake, it means there are some people whose minds are in an earthquake, a cracked mind. That sin is sometimes too heavy for Mother Earth to bear. The word "cess" means when we make calculations in mathematics—after all the minus, plus, and other operations—what remains is called the cess. After all the calculations in this world, what remains is dharma, only dharma. That dharma is the truth. Param satya, jagat mithyā, or brahma satya, jagat mithyā—dharma. And this Pārthavī (Earth) rests on the dharma of such people, like you all sitting here, who pray, meditate, and perform sādhanā every day. So, for the sake of the whole world and the entire creation, please continue your spiritual sādhanā and go to satsaṅg. If someone talks negatively, close your ears; do not listen. Therefore, Mahāprabhujī said in a beautiful bhajan, "I have to do the satsaṅg. Let people gossip as they like." My dear ones, spiritual saints around the world, regardless of religion, build spiritual homes—God's homes—what we call an ashram, church, mosque, synagogue, or stūpa. Those who are more materially oriented build their own companies, factories, and so on. If you ask them, "Can you give something to charity?" they often say, "Oh, that's terrible. These people always come asking for donations." But if there is a big tree, everyone will go under its shade in the hot sun. Every bird will fly to sit on that big tree. Everyone admires its beauty. So, if you have money and you give to charity—for the blind, for children's cancer hospitals—thank God we are still healthy, and I hope we remain so. If you can help, it is great. Tell yourself, "I will drink one less beer today," or reduce something else you use, and give that for a cancer hospital, for blind people, for children, or for the fire brigade. There are many, many struggling charitable organizations. They are small and struggling, but they have the heart to help. It is very interesting: a person who has little money often has a bigger heart to give more. A person who has more, even when they give, their hand moves slowly, reluctantly. They say, "This is for your organization," and their hand goes like this—slowly. So give, give, give. Give love, give understanding, give support, give way, give rights. And if you can, give cloth, money, food, or a blessing. Do not give troubles. That is all. Then go on your way. Satsaṅg is great. I am very happy that you Kiwi people are here, and though many are not Kiwis, you have made a beautiful centre here. This was a church and has become a church again. Mahāprabhujī is sitting here, Devapurījī is sitting, the paramparā, the Miraj Ashram, the other ashram there. So it is yours. It is your spiritual home for development. In this group, no kūṭanī (gossip, intrigue) and no politics should be involved. If you do not like it, you can simply go. So no politics, no parties—this party and that party—and no kūṭanī. Only satsaṅg. It is God's house, only for prayer, for everyone. With this, I wish you all the best. Many, many blessings from Gurudev and our paramparā are upon you. As destiny has it, Mahāprabhujī puts it as his līlā. When, how, and where we will see, he knows. I hope that I will come here again. God bless you. Dīpo Narāyaṇaḥ Bhagavān akeya. Om Tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭi-vardhanam; urvārukamiva bandhanān mṛtyormukṣīya māmṛtāt. Nāhaṃ kartā, prabhu-dīpa kartā, mahā prabhu-dīpa kartā hi ke. Om Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ.