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Once a year, I move around the world, and this was my thirty-third trip—my thirty-third parikramā. When you make a parikramā around the world, you automatically make parikramā to all the holy saints and holy places. Our planet is a holy planet, where God manifests from the nirguṇa form into the saguṇa form. From the formless, He appears in form through the five elements and three guṇas. Though He is above the guṇas, He maintains His life within them. God incarnates on this planet for the sake of the entire planet—not only for humans, but also for animals, trees, rivers, oceans, and lakes. God makes no distinctions. He comes to restore everything to its original form. There are two kinds of prayer: silent and loud. This prayer is offered by all creatures, not only humans. The screaming of animals when they are tortured, when they suffer and are in pain, is a prayer in their language. They call to God for help. Silently, too, they pray when in trouble. Therefore, it is said, "Ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ." Between the Satya Yuga and Dvāpara Yuga lived a great saint named Dadhīci Ṛṣi. Dadhīci Ṛṣi said, "Do not do to others what you do not like to be done to you." The same was repeated by the great saint Vālmīki. Vālmīki wrote the life story of God Rāma before Rāma incarnated—where He would incarnate, in which family, the names of the father and mother, everything. In the foreword, it is written where and when one will incarnate, in which family, and the names of the father and mother. He described almost every day of Lord Rāma’s life, and it truly happened that Rāma incarnated just as written, under the foretold constellation. Such great saints are known as Trikāla Darśī—knowers of the three times: past, present, and future. They know everything from the beginning of this universe; their vision is crystal clear and transparent. They cannot be mistaken. Similarly, in the present, they are alert, aware, conscious, and have self-control—control over the indriyas, guṇas, vāk (words), and so on. At the same time, they know what will happen. Therefore, it is said that even the moon and sun can change their path, but the words of the great holy saints will not change. That is called Guru Vākya. Those who understand Guru Vākya will be successful. To understand Guru Vākya, we must go to satsaṅg. Even an ignorant person can become wise in satsaṅg. Through satsaṅg, you will understand what the Guru or saint means, what the words of the master mean. You will understand what the Guru is, what the saint is. Do not take it otherwise. If you understand Guruvākya, you will be able to perform Guru Seva. There was a great holy saint named Sukhdev Muni. From a very young age, he knew all the Śāstras, Vedas, and scriptures. He was one of the greatest preachers ever incarnated in this world. If someone speaks beautifully and nicely as a small child, he must be an incarnation of Sukhdev Muni. Sukhdev Muni was the son of Ved Vyāsa, who dictated the Vedas when they were not yet in written form. It is said that sixteen years of service to God is less than one minute of service to the master. Sukadeva Muni said he experienced this. So Guru Śiva is greater than what you call God Śiva. To perform Guru Sevā is to serve a living God. But again, you will not understand this because you are not that fortunate, not that blessed one who can understand Guru Vakya. If you do not understand Guru Vakya, you will not understand the Seva. Then questions will constantly arise in your mind: why, what should I do, why did it happen, what should I think, and so on—completely confused. This is called Jañjalā, an inner prison. You are caught in a net, like a fish, caught by misunderstanding with no way out. There is only one key: to understand Guru Vākya. Whatever He says to you will come true, for it is true. In this world, there are two things. One is the paras stone. When you touch iron to the paras, through its power, it changes the iron into gold. The paras can change iron into gold. Secondly, there is the master. But what is the difference? The paras can change iron into gold, but the paras cannot make the iron into a paras. A master, however, can make a disciple a master. That is the difference. A professor makes you a professor. During your studies, you may have had a hard time, often angry at your professor, not liking them, while smiling on the outside. Inside, you thought, "My God, this is terrible. Only two years more." But the day comes when you become a professor, and your professor’s work is complete. So, the master makes a master. A paras can only make iron into gold. If you understand Guruvākya and unconditionally serve the Gurudeva, that is called Seva. When the Seva is completed, that seva and this Guru Vākya transform into kṛpā (grace). "Mokṣa Mūlaṁ Guru Kṛpā." Only through the Guru’s grace is liberation attained; otherwise, there is no Mokṣa. Therefore, serving the master is a Sanātan value—serving the living God. Animals also pray, silently and loudly, but we do not understand their language. Therefore, we misuse and abuse them. When you eat meat, you are the killer, for the animal is killed because you want to eat it. The human mouth is not made for eating dead bodies. The Śāstra says dead bodies should be eaten by rākṣasas, dānavas, and those animals who lack consciousness of purity and impurity. For humans, it is not meant to put dead bodies in the stomach. A great philosopher from England said, "Why should I make my stomach a graveyard for slaughtered animals?" A human who uses the mind God has given, if he thinks logically, will not put a piece of meat in his mouth. For that person, there is Naraka, not svarga or mokṣa. This is an eternal and bitter truth. Therefore, if you have done it innocently in ignorance, you have done it. That is why we pray to God. But now you have heard it. If you do it now, this karma will be doubly strong. Before, it was innocent. The law says if you drink poison consciously or unconsciously, the poison will affect the body. The same was said in the Rāmāyaṇa: "Dayā dharam kā mūl hai, pāp mūl abhimān, Tulsī dayā na chhoḍīye, jab lag kāyamẽ prāṇ." Dayā (mercy) is the root of dharma; the root of sin is your ego—"I do what I like." They say we must eat animals; if we do not, the world will be full of animals. Then where will we live? Therefore, it is said, "Jīva jīva bhakṣate," meaning animals will eat animals. Yes, I agree with that. But are you in the category of animals or humans? Humanost. Čovečnost. Ljudska služba. Ljudsko društvo. We discriminate, but when the question of eating comes, then you join them. This means we do not use this part of the body (the mind). Jīva jīva bhakṣate—animals will eat animals, but a human will stop and think, "Oh my God, what am I doing?" In my life, I have never touched meat like this. If I had to touch meat, my whole body would be full of fear and trembling—a dead body? So develop human consciousness. The same is said in the Bible: "Do not do to others what you do not like done to yourself." You see how things are connected from culture to culture. Nothing is new. What is in the Bible is the same in the Rāmāyaṇa, Upaniṣads, and Bhagavad Gītā—in the Bhagavad Gītā, Upaniṣads, or the Quran. There is only some difference in words grammatically, but the essence is the same. It is said in the Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt not kill." He did not say thou shalt not kill humans but you can kill animals. It did not say, "Don’t kill people, but kill animals." If He had said, "Thou shalt not kill humans," then why are we killing humans? Why do we lead wars? Mostly the wars were, and even now, are led by those who call themselves Christians. If you believe in Lord Jesus, do not take a gun in your hands. Become Gandhi. I would say Gandhijī was the best Christian. He said, "We will not carry weapons," and we will liberate our country without weapons, without atoms. And he did. He has a place in the world as one of the greatest personalities, a Mahātma. No one has achieved peace until today with weapons and guns. When you call someone with deep feelings, in an emergency, they will come to help you. But if you phone the fire brigade or ambulance and say, "I just want to know how quickly you come. Can you come and show me?" they will hang up or tell you to see a psychiatrist. But if there is a serious case, you call and they come. So it must be a call from the heart—deep. If you remember the story from the Mahābhārata about Draupadī: when Duryodhana ordered his brother Duśāsana to pull her sari away, and hundreds of mighty heroes sat there, no one could do anything. Draupadī knew they were all cowards, so she called Kṛṣṇa. "Satguru Rakolājāhamārī..." Through this bhajan, it is clear that even animals can pray, and God listens and comes. This bhajan clearly says that even animals can pray to God for help, and He comes. When the elephant was caught by the crocodile, he called God Viṣṇu. When Viṣṇu heard the prayer in Vaikuṇṭha, He immediately came like a fire brigade. Viṣṇu was riding on the beautiful eagle Garuḍa. Viṣṇu said to Garuḍa, "Fly at your highest speed." Garuḍa came quickly down, but the speed was not enough. The elephant would have died if Viṣṇu had remained seated on Garuḍa, relying on his speed. So He left Garuḍa, and Viṣṇu came Himself quickly and saved the elephant, saved the bhakta. There are many stories in the Rāmāyaṇa. At Christmas time, you often get postcards where animals—donkeys, cows, and goats—are looking at the cradle where the little baby Jesus is lying. If they look there, it means they understand who He is, what God is.