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Good evening, dear brothers and sisters. I am very happy to be here in Maroochydore again. Yamuna said "enlightenment," so I came to the Gold Coast, the Sun Coast, to see the light, and it is beautiful. From time to time the sun comes, and then there is nice rain, and it is very good. Whenever I come, it rains, and we need all the rain, a lot of it. Maroochy—what do you know? Do you know what "Maroochy" means here? Black swan. There is a big, long story about Marīci, and the story comes in the holy book, the Rāmāyaṇa. It's a little bit... maybe you will not be happy to hear about Marīci. But before that, I want to tell you a little something. Today is just to be together as a family. There is a welcoming program, but always when one comes home, there is a welcoming. For a sannyāsī, for a swāmī who has renounced the world, the sky is the roof and the earth is the bed. The whole family, the whole world, is a family. That is called Vasudhaiva Kuṭumbakam—the entire world is my family. That is what every sannyāsī, every swāmī, feels when they come to disciples; they consider them as their family members. So I am not a guest. I am not a stranger. Though I am a sannyāsī, I must have some family, no? Because you have to renounce your own family so that you are not attached to one family. You should take all families as yours. Therefore, it is nice to be again with you and to see you all. I am very happy. There is a long story in the holy book Rāmāyaṇa, the story of God Rāma. He had to go into exile for fourteen years. When he went, his wife Sītā also wanted to go with him. One of his four brothers, Lakṣmaṇa, also went with him. The story is very long—why he had to go—and this I will tell next time, or you can read the book. They had to live in the forest, not to go into any village, not to stay in a village. And like this, there was tragedy in the families. You know, dynasties always have some nasty things sometimes. That always happens when greed comes. His stepmother wanted her son to become the king and not Rāma, because Rāma was the first elder brother, and it was always the elder brother who became the king. Now it's a democracy; that's good. But that time there was no democracy. So then, somehow, the mother put some conditions, and so... okay, we survived. They stayed in the forest. At the same time, there was a king of Śrī Laṅkā. His name was Rāvaṇa, and Rāvaṇa was known as a demon. He studied a lot; he was very wise. He had many siddhis, many things. But he had only one weakness, and that was his ego. Ego makes a man blind. And when this ego and greed—these two things—come together, then the heart becomes stone and the brain becomes a boiling matter. The brain is boiling the ego and greed. They had many siddhis, perfections—what we call the whole family of Rāvaṇa. And his sister also had the same qualities, devilish. Once she was coming—they had siddhis to fly, to dematerialize and materialize. You know the Dracula story? Sometimes Dracula comes into the room; he materializes there. She saw a beautiful young man who was guarding Rāma and Sītā. That young man was Lakṣmaṇa, the brother of God Rāma. She saw a beautiful man and fell in love, and she came to him. She changed her whole look and makeup, and she asked Lakṣmaṇa to marry her. He said, "I don't know you. I see you for the first time, and I am married. I don't want to marry you." She said, "You want to marry?" She was forcing him. He said, "No, I cannot. I will not." Then she turned to God Rāma and said, "I want to marry your brother." God Rāma said, "I cannot decide. It is his personal matter if he wants to marry or not. It is his thing." Again she said, "No, I want to do this." Well, she created a big, big problem for the three of them—Rāma, Sītā, and Lakṣmaṇa. Then she came and wanted to hold the hand of Lakṣmaṇa and take him away. She began to attack Rāma. She said, "Then I will marry you." At that time, Lakṣmaṇa was the bodyguard, so he was angry. He took a sword and chipped her nose. Now, a person who is angry, full of passion, full of disappointment, full of ego, is able to do anything. She went to her brother Rāvaṇa in Śrī Laṅkā and said, "Brother, look, these two boys who are in the forest—their parents sent them away and they have no one—and this one cut my nose." Rāvaṇa was angry, very angry. "Who was that? I will pull it out of them like a carrot from the field." Rāvaṇa had another brother, but he said, "Brother, ask her why she went there. Why did she go there?" So Rāvaṇa said, "Aha, that is a good question. Why did you go there? They are hot." Now she begins to lie. "You know, my brother, Rāma's wife Sītā is so beautiful. I never saw such a woman in the world. And I want that she marries you. I want to tell you that you should go and take her as your wife." Rāvaṇa said, "Aha! That is something good. I will do it." But it was not easy to approach Rāma, not easy to approach Lakṣmaṇa. They were divine. Rāvaṇa went round and round; he couldn't come there. He had one uncle, the brother of his mother, who had also seen these two change their forms. Rāvaṇa went to him and said, "Uncle, you have to do one favor for me." He said, "What?" "You have to become a golden deer and go in front of the hut where Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, and Sītā are." And as we know, when a woman sees something beautiful, she will want to have that golden deer. That is called the deer of illusion, the māyā. She will force Rāma to catch it. And as Rāma comes near, it runs far away. So he will run and run a few kilometers far away. At that time, I will go and kidnap Sītā. He said, "But Lakṣmaṇa is more powerful." "Aha! So after a few kilometers, you disappear and then scream, 'Brother Lakṣmaṇa, come and help me. Brother Lakṣmaṇa, I am in trouble, come and help me.' And Lakṣmaṇa will come to help. Meanwhile, I will take this lady away. Okay, if you don't do it, I will chip your head," Rāvaṇa said to his uncle. Well, the uncle came. He was standing in front of them, eating grass, looking, going near to Sītā. Sītā said to Rāma, "My dear, my lord, this beautiful golden deer I want to have." Rāma said, "My dear, in this forest, what will we do with a golden deer? Dear, take it as yours. Let him be free here." She said, "No, no, I want to have..." She said no. It's not because Rāma knew what it was that she said no. "I want to have, you know, the dharma of the husband." She said, "I know very well, but you can tell." He said, "What is the dharma of the husband? To fulfill every wish of the wife." In the middle of the forest, in such a life situation, he said, "But if you wish, my dear, I will do it. But give me your word that you will not go out of the hut." She said, "I will not do it." And Rāma told Lakṣmaṇa, "No matter what happens, do not leave Sītā alone. I will never be in danger. I will never call you. Stay here. It doesn't matter what happens." Now Rāma went behind and ran after the deer. The deer came near, and then it ran away. He runs behind it a few kilometers. At that moment, someone, making the voice of Rāma—"Brother Lakṣmaṇa, come please help me, I am in danger, come, come, come"—Sītā heard the voice. "Lakṣmaṇa, your brother is in danger. Go and help him." He said, "No, mother—we always call our elderly sister-in-law like a mother—no. My brother will never be in danger, and he asked me to be in your service." She told him a few times. He said, "Please don't force me." She said, "Uh-huh, now I understand. You think that Rāma will die, and you will marry me again. I understand what you mean." Lakṣmaṇa said, "Mother, I never thought like this, never." She said no, but I say. She said, "You may say, but never. Then go, help." Then Lakṣmaṇa, with his bow, made a line, a circle around the whole hut, about twenty to thirty meters in diameter, and said, "Mother, I have one request. Please, no matter what happens, do not go, do not cross this line. If you cross it, it will be terrible. Terrible." She said, "Okay, that I will do, I will not do." Lakṣmaṇa went, and there was a big circle with his bow. And now Rāvaṇa came there. She said, "I will not trust him." So he made a form like a ṛṣi, an old sage, and came for food. "I am hungry. Bhikṣāṃ dehi." Almost. She said, okay. Some ṛṣi came. He came. She said, "We don't have chapatis and bread. We are only living from the fruits." And she took the basket of fruits and said, "Come." Rāvaṇa is just full of ambitions. "I will catch her and kidnap her." That's all. He came near, and as soon as he came to this line, it was like an electric current—maybe five thousand, or how many thousand, power inside. She tried to go again. Rāvaṇa said, "Aha, Lakṣmaṇa did something." He said, "I am not a person who is going in the limited circles. If you want to give me eating, give it, otherwise I go hungry." She said, "Please don't go. Stay here." And she wanted to give food from inside, but again he said, "I am not a beggar. If you want to give, then give me here." He was sitting under the tree. She thought he was a good person, and she went with the basket of fruits to give. He kicked the basket away and took her like you would take a rabbit under your arm. Lakṣmaṇa didn't find his brother. At that time, Rāvaṇa had an aeroplane. That time, it was ten thousand years ago. And that aeroplane's name was Puṣpavāhana, a flower. The speciality of that aeroplane was it could become bigger or smaller as you wish. If you have twenty thousand people, it becomes a place for twenty thousand people. Or if you are only two, it becomes for two. He took her in his arms, sat in the aeroplane, and flew towards Śrī Laṅkā. She tried somewhere, then she threw her mālā or her ring or something on the floor. There was a very big Garuḍa, an eagle, a big, big eagle, fighting against Rāvaṇa to free Sītā, but he could not be successful. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa came back, but the hut was lonely; Sītā was not there. And then the story goes further. So that uncle of Rāvaṇa, his name was Marīci. And the door, so the door of the Māyā, you know, Māyā. So this is Māyā Nagarī, a city of the Māyā. So this is only a little introduction of the name according to the old. In Chicago, there is a library, a very big library, and there were about four Americans coming one year, every day, borrowing the Rāmāyaṇa and reading only that chapter about this aeroplane. They want to know which technology they had, but they couldn't find it. Couldn't find it, so that was an aeroplane. Anyhow, another thing I want to tell you is that our paramparā, our spiritual lineage, is coming from many, many yugas, satya yugas, from God Śiva. Śiva was the first one. It's called Swayambhū. No one has created him. He has manifested himself out of nothing. The divine consciousness transfers into the resonance, the Nāda Yoga, Nāda Rūpa Para Brahma. The form of the supreme is the sound, that Nāda. The misuse can make you confused. It can kill all your good qualities. It can put black on your good qualities and put you again in the darkness. Or a good nāda, a good word, can make you enlightened. Enlightened means there is no light like this. When she said, "Enlightened master," I closed my eyes and I didn't see anything. Enlightenment is a wisdom, knowledge, that's all. Otherwise, the master is a physical body. This is a pañca tattva, five elements. I am exactly a normal human being like you are. But you know, there is a diamond like this, a big diamond. I think this is very big. It will cost you a lot of money. And when you buy this, you get from the person, from the shop, from the jewelry shop, a beautiful box. And it's inside and nicely wrapped with some wood paper. Now, this box you will take in your purse or in your handbag. You will not check it in when you check in your aeroplane luggage. You will keep it and come home, and you will put it somewhere that no one has access to, open a safe, put it in, and lock it again, the whole box. One day, you give this diamond to some jewelry person to make a necklace or some ornament for your dear wife. And you give this diamond to the person, and now there is only the box left, empty. So the box, you can put it anywhere. The box has no value. The value is in the diamond. So the guru, the master, is that box. But what is inside—that love, wisdom, blessing, what Gurudev, God has given to you—that is important. So we adore that light which is coming from the paramparā. You take care of your governor of Australia, not because he is that person, but because of his position. Okay? So when the person begins to see the master's body like something above pink clouds, then the disciple is at a dangerous point. So guru tattva, īśvara tattva, brahma tattva, and we are physical. So, you, me, we are a physical body, which is a mortal body. If it will be like that, then I will live how many billions of years? But I have enough from this life, even these limited years of the few decades. So this is a lineage of God Śiva. Nāda Rūpa Parabrahma is coming, the resonance. And that resonance is in the ocean also. When you sit and hear the sound of the ocean, that is that Brahma-nāda. Then, out of this resonance comes what is called the Śivajyoti, the light, the light of life, consciousness. That light is sparkling or shining in all the stars, moons, and suns. That is Śiva light. The stars and all the planets, and the moon and sun, they are all illuminated by that Śiva Jyoti. And that one we are also. You are like that shining star, the life. And when this light is gone, then very soon we will organize a ceremony, unfortunately, what we call a funeral. That comes lineage, and then we have the great incarnation, Śaṅkarācārya; we also consider him as Śiva's incarnation. And then this lineage is coming, so it is authentic from yugas and yugas, in Vedas, in Śāstras, in everything. That tradition, that paramparā is acknowledged in India, and it has great meaning and great position. All adore it, all respect it very much. And there they have different branches and committees. And that committee is searching for someone who is a capable person, who could be a leader in the form of a member of our committees called Akhāḍās, Mahā Maṇḍaleśvar. Mahā means great, and Maṇḍal means that organization, that union. So in the last Kumbh Melā in 2009, they spoke with me. 2009-2010, both. We came in 2009 and then 2010. Last year. It was last year. I am Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar of that Akhāḍā now, nearly thirteen years. Twelve years is one mini-yuga. So all ācāryas, also leaders of this and that, were whispering in my ear, saying, "Swāmījī, will you accept?" I said, "What?" "We think your disciple is now ripe." I said, "What means that?" "That we would like to honor him as a Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar." I said, that is for me one of the happiest days and happiest minutes. When your son becomes president or general secretary of the United Nations, will you not be happy? Similarly, when my disciples get enlightenment, what you call spiritual development, I will be the happiest person. Or when my disciple again falls down, misunderstands, and is in darkness, I am very unhappy. The heart of the Master is like the heart of the mother, or more. God loves us more than parents, and the Guru loves the disciples more than God. Only Gurujī used to say in satsaṅg. And that's why I said, you are my family. Then, carefully, I spoke with Jasarājjī. If he would accept, he said, "Oh, it's a surprise." Surprised, he said, "I don't want, Swāmījī, that you retire, because when you become a Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar's successor, then, you know, in one cover you cannot put two śvaras inside." All you want. They said, "No, no, no. I am senior, and this will be junior, and he must have his ashram." So he has an ashram and everything. So I want to say that Jasrāj is born in Australia, grown in Australia. His mātṛbhūmi, the birth country, is Australia, and karmabhūmi, India and the whole world. So on the 17th of February, we had a very big ceremony about Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar. A very nice ceremony is done. Forty-eight hours before, he has to be isolated and guarded so that nobody kidnaps him. Yes, and nobody will talk some negative things to destroy his... blackmailing, you know. Then, Ādhā, good words can enlighten you, and negative talk can destroy you. And then there were certain ceremonies, and then he had to go to the Akhāḍā, our head center, and there is Bhagavān Kapila Muni. Kapila was a great, great incarnation, a great saint. In the Bhagavad Gītā, Kṛṣṇa said, "Among Siddhas, as a Siddha, I am Kapila Muni." And so, Bhagavān Kapila—you should read about Bhagavān Kapila. And so we had a beautiful, in the presence of many, many authorities of all the spiritual leaders. And we had about, nearly a thousand sannyāsī sādhus in their presence. And then I was also sitting, and then they brought the Jasarājjī. They pulled out nice, washed and cleaned, and one was holding him here, the other was holding him here, and behind was like bodyguards, and the front was like escorting sādhus. It was a beautiful ceremony to see. Though I also became a mahāmaṇḍaleśvar like that, I forgot how it was. So it was good for me to look and see. So I congratulate you, my dear Australian Bhaktas, that Australia has this honor to be honored: a student of Australia as a Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar, and you are happy that he is here today. So we can congratulate him, no? These are words of welcome and introduction. The lecture I will give tomorrow will be similar to what I am saying now; perhaps I will speak about Marichi’s uncle or something akin to that. This is the perspective you should adopt. Our mistakes arise only through attachment to forms. We must know what is inside and what light I receive from you, and what you receive from me. Yamunā is your guru here. She teaches you a beautiful yoga for daily life, and yoga in daily life is the system for the world, I tell you. There are many paths, but yoga is only yoga. Yoga is yoga. Whether it is yoga in one’s life or any other yoga, there is only one, and that is yoga. It is God Śiva’s science of body, mind, consciousness, and soul. This yoga science was given by Lord Śiva in that ancient time, just as this orange cloth and this blessing of light are given freely to all. Give the knowledge, but first look at the pot, the vessel; if it is clean, then give. But nowadays, we do not have such a long time to ascertain if it is clean or not, so we give it anyway. My principle is this: I carry many seeds in my pocket. Wherever I go, I sow them. If they will grow, they will grow. If it is birdseed, that does not matter either. Thus, Yamunā leads a life. Yamunā and Tyāgapurī are like ṛṣis. Husband and wife, the ṛṣi is always present, giving you good things. What could be greater than this? Therefore, always see what is inside. We in India say, "Bandī muṭhī lakhī, kholne ke bādh rākhī." If your fist is closed, it holds a value of millions. When you open it, it is merely dust. So we must discover what is within. That is the knowledge of spirituality that one gives you. We shall see the Guru Tattva. You cannot simply say, "I am the Guru." There are many so-called Svayaṃbhū Gurus. You know, Svayaṃbhū Guru means a self-made master. But you must have authentic initiation and acknowledgment. Australia has two passports. One passport is stamped by the Australian authority and given to you as a valid passport. The second is a fake passport, a false one. People make passports and apply stamps, but at the border they are caught. So authenticity carries a certain quality. I was thinking that at the next Kumbh Melā I would like to initiate twenty-five sannyāsīs, mahā-maṇiṣas, but they are not yet ready. There is still time, so we shall see. Perhaps there will be one or two more mahā-manṛṣis in Australia if they practice properly. Practice makes the master. It does not matter what comes in your life; practice, practice, practice your mantra with confidence. Do you understand? Whoever did not understand may have a chocolate. With this, I welcome you and thank you for welcoming me. This is a beautiful flower; I adore it. I respect and accept it. Now, I think I will give some words to Jasrāj Purījī to say something. It is very nice to be here and to see you again—those who were here before and are here now. Of course, to be with Swāmījī is always a blessing, though it seems to always be raining here. I think Swāmījī has noticed that as well. Today I was thinking of the children in our school. In kindergarten, they are taught… English teachers do not always think deeply about what they are teaching. One of the first nursery rhymes they learn is, "Rain, rain, go away, come again another day." When you sing that in Rajasthan, I feel like pulling my hair out because there is no rain there. But here, it is welcome. You can send some over; we would like that. We had a lot this year. Everyone there was thinking of you all this year. This year, so many troubles—or let us say challenges—have come to Queensland. But at the same time, through things shared on the internet, beautiful stories emerged about people coming together, helping each other, and rediscovering that human spirit of being brothers and sisters. It is not something you would ever wish to happen, but great things can come from it, and you truly discover the quality of the people around you. There is another story that comes to mind after Swāmījī spoke of the Rāmāyaṇa. There is Hanumān, the monkey god, who goes to rescue Sītā—actually to give her a message from Rāma—when she is imprisoned in a garden, guarded by many demons and demonesses. At first, they do not see him because he keeps himself very small, and he manages to deliver his message. Afterward, they discover him. At that point, he is surrounded by these demons, and he sees they hold weapons that are essentially the ancient equivalent of nuclear bombs. They are all nuclear-armed demons staring at him. A single lion enters and Hanumān thinks, "I am in trouble here, surrounded by all these demons with dangerous weapons. But if I do not think of them as weapons, they will not trouble me." To me, this means that so many challenges come before you, so many things that make you think, "I cannot cope with this." But if you do not think of them as insurmountable, if you simply see what is in front of you and deal with it in the present moment, it is amazing what capacity you have. I think people here, during those difficult times, discovered their capabilities and what they can do when it comes down to the crunch. It is a very beautiful analogy, so applicable on the spiritual path as well. Sometimes you look ahead and the path seems so long, so difficult, and beyond your capabilities. But if you do not see it as difficult, it becomes much easier. If you just look at what is in front of you instead of gazing into the distance, it becomes easier to deal with each issue, each moment as it comes. The same is true in your personal life. When you dwell on things too long, thinking, "I have to do this, it is so hard, I do not think I can manage," it is better to begin. Then its power over you, that threatening effect, tends to dissolve. It becomes much easier. When we speak of that light which Swāmījī talks about—that light within us all, the light of enlightenment, the light of God—perhaps one small mistake we make on the spiritual path is to expect that light to always manifest as beautiful things. But it is everything. Here you have the beach. Some days you go down, the wind is blowing offshore, the sun is shining, the water is flat and beautiful, the waves are perfectly shaped, and it looks like heaven on earth. On another day, if you looked now, it might just look like a mess. But it is the same ocean, the same water. Everything within it is the same; it merely presents different forms to us—a different day, a different hour, a different moment, a different time, a different form. Yet it is all that ocean. All the people who come before us, whether they bring us joy or challenge, whether they stir our emotions, they are all part of that same energy. In their own way, they are all beautiful. In their own way, they are all us; they are part of us. We are beyond one family; we are all one. When you can go to the ocean and accept that every day is beautiful in whichever form it takes, then those issues dissolve. The thoughts of "I do not want it like this; I want a sunny day, good surf, I want this, I want that" fade. Every day is different. If it is not good for going in the water, it is good for walking. If not for walking, it is good for sitting inside. If not for sitting, rainy days are beautiful for sleeping. You can always find something good. I was also thinking today of a song from my youth. The chorus went, "Right here, right now, there's no other place I'd rather be." You are very lucky to have Swāmījī here for four or five days. It is a great opportunity. Try, during these days with Swāmījī, at least when you enter this door, to leave the world behind. Leave all your problems behind. Just be here. Be in this moment. Take every moment as nectar. Enjoy every single drop. The other things will be there when you return; you can deal with them then. Take this time, this wisdom that comes. Enjoy every part of the class, every part of the bhajan. Just be in that moment, in the present. It is so special to be with Swāmījī, to hear words coming from the ocean, from within. It is not speaking about life; it is life itself. May I sing a bhajan now? Yes, then I will translate one bhajan. Jasrājī will sing a bhajan, or he can translate it. Śrī Gurujī, by going deep into our life, Mahāprabhujī awakened the sleeping swan within our holy Gurujī, within Mādhava Mañjī. And Gurujī says that from bhajan, from singing spiritual songs, from our mālā and mantra practice, from our meditation, we will find real happiness, true happiness, all happiness. The Guru can explain to us the way to do that. When you consider Hindu philosophy regarding reincarnation and the many forms of life, as the bhajan says, it is truly rare to obtain a human birth. They also say that in a human birth, it is hard to be born into a good family—one that encourages spirituality and gives you the love that allows you to pursue it. So, good luck to those who wish to walk the spiritual path, who feel the need to travel that road. And after all that luck, to have the chance to find a master who can actually explain it and show you the way. As it is said, it is a privilege you would not want to waste. Therefore, make the most of it. Śrī Nārāyaṇa Gyān. Now you may be wondering about others here. Today is just a welcoming meeting—a very good one. I seldom have such occasions; usually, I must come and speak. We are very relaxed. Are you relaxed? You may be wondering about the person sitting to my left, a very original sādhu dressed as Swami Hanuman Giri. He lived for a long time in India, in the Himalayas, with his master. How he came to me, and all that—I think he can tell something about his life experiences. He truly followed what you call asceticism, and he remains so. You know, when he comes and everyone looks at him, nobody looks at me. I look very modern. Of course, I am not jealous about that. Perhaps Hanumān Purī will say something. You can speak about when you went to India, how, and so on. You may stand near Jasrājī so we have a double picture of both of you—a family story. Now we will have a prayer. Gurudev, we have a five-minute interval. If someone needs to leave and does not wish to stay for the prayer, they may go. Remember, only the body dies. I do not wish to speak for long and hold the stage, for I know I am but dust. I will briefly share my experience in India. There were many sādhus in orange cloths, but not all were honest. One night, I was poisoned by a daityāsur. I wandered along the river, lost my mind and memory, and was half-blind for a day before my memory returned. Then I found my Gurujī. He was under Bābā Hari Giri. There are different monastic orders—the Daśnāmī, the ten orders: Giri, Purī, Bhāratī, Sarasvatī, Araṇyā, Sāgara, Parvata, and so on. They come from different places: some live by the ocean (Sāgara), some in the mountains (Giri), some in towns, re-established by Śaṅkarācārya Jī, an incarnation of Śiva, as Swamījī has explained. After that massive dose of poison, Gurujī explained what had happened and took me on for training. As Tāṇaka said, he would train me because I believe that the Tānaka Bhavas, the Hindu holy men of India, protect Sanātana Dharma and all life. All life is sacred, whether ant, elephant, human, or god. It makes no difference, but the highest form is the guru, even higher than god, because the guru can transmit self-realization to us—if we surrender ourselves and our ego. The ego is a great obstacle. We may think we have overcome it, but it can return in an instant. He is a very good speaker; everyone enjoys when he speaks. Would you like to share something? Today is a meeting. Please, share your experience, your life, how you met me in India. We have known each other for more than twenty, twenty-five years. Welcome. And it is always raining—that is why we call for the sun to come to the Sunshine Coast. I do not know what to say much. I have long been interested in astrology and consciousness. I learned to meditate by translating meditation techniques, which satisfied me for a while. I tried various other systems. About fifteen years later, I was meditating one day and noticed my breathing had slowed, then stopped. I noticed my heart had stopped, and only a few thoughts remained in my mind. Normally, there were hundreds. Those last few thoughts disappeared, and I became aware of Universal Consciousness in that unbounded timelessness—exactly as described. This lasted about twenty minutes before I returned to normal consciousness. At that point, I knew this state existed. I had thought self-realization would be easy to achieve, but this experience showed me I needed a teacher. For the first time, I prayed and felt my prayer would be answered. I knew I needed a teacher. Years later, I had forgotten about this and went to India. I met someone who took me to an ashram and introduced me to a politician who had a copy of the Rāmāyaṇa, which he said was about ten years old. He spoke of his teacher, but he did not seem to have much substance, living in a small ashram and not knowing much more than I did, so I was not particularly impressed. I ended up in Jaipur where Āśramjī was. I went to an ashram there; Āśramjī was not present, but the person there said he was coming from Europe. I thought he might be interesting, different from the others. I returned a couple of days later and saw he was there. I said I could stay at the ashram. I did not have much money, so staying for free was good. I stayed a few days, did some work, enjoyed it, but thought I was on my way to the port and decided to leave. She asked if I would like to see the Taj Mahal. I agreed, and she said I could travel by bus at no cost. So I went. While sitting in the Taj Mahal, I experienced a strange energy flowing through me that I did not understand. Later, leaving in the middle of the night, I felt incredibly calm and peaceful. The world could have spoken, but I was at peace. The bus journey faded from consciousness, and I returned to my normal way of thinking. So I could trust him, and he could teach others as well.