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There are two forces in this universe: Āsurīśakti and Devīśakti. Śakti means power; Śakti means energy. Āsurīśakti signifies the negative forces. One could call them devils; Western people are accustomed to saying satanic forces, devilish forces—negative, destructive forces, and so on. Devīśakti is the divine power, the positive power. Both forces, Devīśakti and Āsurīśakti, exist. Devīśakti is positive power, and Āsurīśakti is negative power. But the origin of both is one: God Himself. It is interesting to consider why the negative forces also have their origin in God, just as the positive ones do. This is just as we have often spoken of Uthan and Pathan—development in life, realization of the goal, or destruction in life, where the consciousness descends into lower feelings, into lower lokas. When a person is born, two paths lie before them. One path leads to success, development, and realization. The second path is destruction, annihilation, going under. The person is the Self. The Pure One has pure consciousness; the Pure One has a pure life. But now it depends on the company one keeps, with whom one spends most of their time, and how that person will continue to live in this life. If one goes into ku-saṅga, bad company, then there is no progress to higher stages, but rather decline, a destruction of life. We have been given human life, and unfortunately, one can waste it. When you go to good company, with good friends, then there is growth and development on the higher plane. For example, if someone comes to a person who uses drugs, they will bring him to the point where he begins to take drugs. This is the influence of society. Or, if someone comes to a purposeful person who studies, who wants to do something in life—to serve society, to work, or to practice yoga, to do something positive—they may also become a Yogi. So, it is the company, the companion, the partner one keeps; one adopts the qualities of that company. And according to its qualities, this consciousness continues to operate. Pure water, when we pour it into a dirty pot or vessel, becomes dirty; in a pure vessel, it remains pure. And so, this divine power in the universe is the origin of the Cosmic itself, which continues to wander in this universe. One moves into the positive planes, while the other goes to different extremes, into negative planes. Thus, one develops a quality. The entire universe is filled with astral beings; it is so densely full. For example, we have a beautiful illustration in this modern world of how we develop our technology day by day. You see, in this room where we are sitting, there are millions upon millions of radiations—radio waves. You can receive the entire world, all the stations, here. And now we have cell phones, television, and many other things. So, all around the Earth there is so much energy, so many radio waves, incredibly dense. It is very close, because one meditates and wants to enter the astral world. It is so dense, one might fear an accident will happen. They lie around like cables, like a network, so densely packed. But the technology is good; everyone passes through. Nothing comes together by chance; accidents are very rare. And so, the entire universe is filled with many astral beings, not only human but also animal. We all have our origin in God. Thus, negative forces exist in this universe, and positive forces also exist. We do not know when a negative force or evil power will suddenly attack us or come onto our path. And we do not know when the positive power will come. So, accidents can happen. This is called Tri-Tāpa. Yoga speaks of Ādhibhautika, Ādhidaivika, and Ādhyātmika. Tri-Tāpa means three types of difficulties. Tāpa means heat, fire, but here it is meant in a negative sense. Every kind of problem is a heat for us, a fire. And these three Tāpas can only be overcome through meditation, through prayer, and through mantra. As it is written in the mantra, inscribed in the Vajra: tinoi tāp pāp mitjāve, tinoi tāp pāp avicala sukha pāve paramānanda naya avicala sukha. Then Śrī Dīpa Nirañjana Sabhā Dukkha Panjan, Prabhu Dīpa Nirañjana Sabhā Dukkha. This mantra is the supreme mantra indeed. It is the shining lamp, the illuminating word of the Lord. By chanting it, O Lord, all suffering and sin are destroyed, and one attains unshakable bliss, the bliss of Brahman. Tinoyi Tāpas—these three Tāpas: Ādhibhautika, Ādhidaivika, and Ādhyātmika. The threefold suffering and sin are destroyed. These three Tāpas exist as long as sins exist within us. When we are free of sin, then the three Tāpas are also freed from us. The new stage, Pāpamita-Java, where the sin of all these three Tāpas is purified, is reached. And so, when we are on the astral plane, we come together with either positive forces or negative forces. When we live in this physical, material, and worldly life, both positive and negative forces come our way. Therefore, it is very important that consciousness receives the help of the Masters. There you see how important it is for a Satguru to have their seat in the astral planes and in these realms. That is exactly when we need the Master. Perhaps not here in this world—that is okay; from time to time we see each other and say hello. But where our intellect has no more power, where our physical strength ends, there all our abilities come to an end. Then only Guru Kṛpā can carry it out. And so, to feel and recognize the Guru Kṛpā, one must read the Guru Gītā, listen to the Guru Gītā. Thus, Devīśakti and Āsurīśakti develop. The part of the power, the energy gathered in negative qualities, day by day, will become Āsurīśakti, and the positive forces will become Devīśakti. In India, we have very special days for this twice a year—not just one day, but nine days. Nine days occur approximately in April, and nine days now in this season of October-November, as it follows the lunar calendar. These nine days are called Navarātri. Navarātri means nine nights. These nine nights are dedicated to the Divine Mother, Śakti. So now every woman can be happy; the women will receive nine days, please. The male god only gets one day, right? Yoga is a great stage of emancipation, a stage of progress. And nine days and nine nights are dedicated during the day to the Divine Mother, the Śakti that comes from and operates through the cosmic planes—just like a divine incarnation. People might ask why there are always only male gods and male incarnations. No, it is not only that; there are also female incarnations. It has its meaning. Why does God incarnate in a female form? Or why in a male form? Or why as half-human and half-animal? It always has its meaning and purpose. For example, Narasiṁha Avatāra. Narasiṁha Avatāra is Nara, the human, and Siṁha, the lion. God incarnated in this world as Narasiṁha. Why? Does she know everything? No. Because of the pearl shell and brain cortex—we have heard this story countless times. And so it is. This Śakti—Durgā, Kālī, and so on—has nine different names. Last year, for half a year, we had beautiful lectures on divine Śakti, specifically the Śrīmad Devī Bhāgavatam. There we have always read and heard what it is, what it means for us, and how powerful it is. Śrīmad Devī Bhāgavatam is one of the greatest Bhāgavatams. There are so many līlās of her, so many stories. Over the nine days, each day she took on a different form to kill a demon. And the last one—every time she killed him, he came back to life. For the ninth time, they learned that the blood from the devil must not fall to the ground, otherwise he will rise again, as they say. And there Kālī took a hall, and so on; you can see Kālī’s pictures. I am not a product of Kālīs, because for me, Kālī and Durgā and everything else are within Mahāprabhujī and Devīpurasī and so forth. But we have great reverence for the divine power. If we say only "divine Mother," what would be insufficient? A divine mother normally means the mother of an incarnation, but the Divine Mother is the divine Śakti, the power, the universal mother, I would say. A universal mother is also our mother, the cosmic mother. Today is the ninth day; it is celebrated, highly praised. And she is one. You will be surprised, or as I say, you will marvel, that almost 75 to 80 percent of devotees believe in the divine Mother, this cosmic Mother. She is that important. Every household has a divine mother as the patroness of the family—this cosmic Mother, one of them. Every Akhāḍā of Sannyāsīs bears a symbol of this goddess. Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere it is present. And so, she is purity, she is an owner, she is a mother, she is power, she is knowledge, she is peace, she is contentment, she is prosperity, she is our intellect or Buddhi. And so, in this mantra, for example, it says: NAMASTASYE NAMASTASYE... NAMO NAMA. Your intellect is power. Power is your thoughts, the power of thought, the power of your trust, the power of your contentment. Everything that is such a power within you is the divine, cosmic Mother. Without them, we cannot even move our eyelids. There is no moment anymore then. It is their power that moves. Consciousness and power; consciousness and nature. Prakṛti, Puruṣa and Prakṛti, Śiva and Śakti. Consciousness can only act, only work, only when there is power. And when the power is no longer there, one says, "I feel so miserable, completely powerless. I have no more strength to live." Such hidden powers exist within humans. Is that a proper title? "Youthful energies"? Exactly. Hidden forces within people—or one says the sleeping forces within people, which we must awaken. So on this day, we offer our reverence, or we worship the cosmic Mother in the form of power, in the form of harmony, in the form of contentment, in the form of peace, in the form of our knowledge. In every way, may it possess us. Through what? Through clear, right thoughts. Through right actions. Through the right words. We cannot speak anything anymore if she were not present. So, she is everywhere. You have surely read in the Līlāmṛta of Mahāprabhujī also a beautiful story of Mahāmāyā. Mahāmāyā Śakti. Mahāmāyā is Māyā, and Mahā is the greatest Māyā in the entire universe. There is also a small Māyā here, but this Māyā pervades the entire universe. So, Devīśakti. Devīśakti is full of power. And because of that, her form, in the feminine form, is worshipped. That is how it is. So today we will sing a bhajan. A beautiful bhajan written and sung by Holī Gurujī, praising our divine Mother Candan Devījī, Mahāprabhujī’s mother. Okay? Victory to Siddhip Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān. Victory to Candan Devī Mātājī. Victory to Śānti jī. Victory to Śānti jī.