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Part 1: The Bushfire and the Vṛttis I must tell you about the time I lit a bushfire. What can I say? Sometimes you do stupid things. My aunt and uncle had a holiday farm. In fact, Croatia is probably the closest I’ve seen in Europe to a place where you can go and find nobody. But Australia is truly the place where you can go somewhere and there is nobody. I don’t know if you can imagine how remote this farm was. You drive five hours from Sydney, then you leave the highway for a dirt road, drive 60 kilometers on that, and then you arrive at the farm. Before that, there is a sign warning: "No food, no telephone facilities, and no petrol stations for 256 kilometers." And before you reach that point, another sign says there are no telephones, no fire services, and no petrol stations for 50–60 kilometers. The farms have telephones and electricity, but there is nowhere to go; there are no shops on the way. The stars there are amazing. Even here last night, I looked up and you can really see the stars, which you can't see in towns with all their light. But at that farm, it is truly as if the sky is falling on your head—that’s how many stars there are. I was at this farm for a holiday, and staying there was a kind of karma yoga. You spent your time doing tasks to maintain the place. One job was to dig up a type of grass that ruined the fields. Another thing—which perhaps only people in Croatia can relate to a little—is how extremely dry it can get. Here, these hills seem very dry. But in Australia, I once saw a newspaper picture of a four-year-old girl standing in the rain. The caption said she couldn’t work out what it was because it was the first time she had ever seen rain, and she was already four. That wasn't where this farm was, but in another part of the state. Still, it was very dry at the farm too. I was digging up this grass, and the best thing to do afterwards is to burn it. But you have to be very careful when burning. It was winter, with beautiful weather and no wind. So I thought I would finish the job, burn this grass, and then stop. Of course, as soon as I lit it, the wind came up. Although the area around was quite clear because I had dug up all the grass, the fire kept catching onto things and going a little here and a little there. I went down to the house, got a woolen blanket, and tried to beat it out. There I was in the field, running behind this fire with a blanket, putting it out in one spot only for it to spring up in another. I would run and put it out there, and then it would go somewhere else. Looking back now, it was exactly like running after vṛttis. You can run after them and beat them as much as you like with the blanket, but another one comes here and another comes there. I couldn’t keep up. I was getting exhausted, and I was the only one there. My mother was also present. So, what do you do in such a situation? "Mom!" I thought we had better call the fire brigade. This farm was about 120 acres. Half was grass and fields for cows; the other half went up a steep hill and was completely forest. The fire was creeping up toward that forest. Behind our property was forest stretching for about 50 or 60 kilometers. I started having visions of it all burning down. This is in the middle of nowhere, so the fire brigade doesn't really exist as such. There's a truck run by the local farmers. Since they don't live very close, the nearest one was about twenty kilometers away. It took them time to arrive, during which my heart was pounding—pfff, pfff—in panic, because the fire was already in the trees and my blanket was insufficient. The first fellow who turned up was a local legend named Selvan. He was about 80 at the time. He arrived, and on his back he had a backpack water tank with a hand-pump spray. He got out of his truck, put on this pack with 40 liters of water, and at 80 years of age, he just casually started walking up the hill. He was a local, you see, and he didn't really like us city people coming and making a mess on the farms, as we always do. As he walked up, he didn't even look at me. Just as he was walking past, he said, "What the bloody hell is going on here?" And he kept walking. I didn't really need to tell him; it was quite clear what was happening. He walked up the hill and just started walking around in the forest. My heart was beating quite fast again, and I was thinking, "Please, use your spray!" But he didn't. He was just walking around, looking and checking. Then, about twenty minutes later, the fire truck arrived. Three or four more locals from different farms were also there; they had picked them up on the way. They just parked the truck at the bottom of the hill and also went walking into the forest. I was thinking, "Guys, this is not the time for a picnic. Come on! Fire! Fire truck! Water!" But what could I say? I was the idiot who started it, so I couldn't really tell them anything. They went up the hill and were just walking and talking together, looking around, seeing this and that. Eventually, they seemed to come to some agreement. They went back, got the truck, and drove farther up the hill. They parked, then took out what in English we call a rake, for moving leaves. I thought, "This is just getting worse now. They're going to do some gardening or something." They had their rakes, and they went to one particular place they had selected and started removing the leaves. The fire was coming up the hill and was in the tops of the trees, which were quite big in some places. It wasn't a huge area, but it was a real fire. There they were, removing leaves. Then they got out a chainsaw, cut a couple of trees, and moved them aside too. Gradually, you could see what they were doing: they were clearing a track, a path, making it completely bare. Of course, we also got a rake and started "gardening" as well. The fire was still some way from that point. They finished and seemed satisfied it was clear enough. And then they tried to destroy my brain. They went to the truck, got out some plastic chairs, placed them on that trail, and just sat down to watch the fire coming toward them. I was in a panic. I thought, "My God, please—the fire truck, the water!" And they were casually talking. "Oh yeah, my cow got sick," and so on. "Yeah, I called the doctor," and whatever. They were talking about so-and-so's wedding next month. "The boy is from the city, we don't like him very much," and all this—while this serious fire was coming up the hill toward them. When it got close, they packed up the chairs. Much to my relief, they actually got the hose off the truck, started the engine and the pump, and just waited at that trail for the fire to come. There was nothing for the fire to eat there. Basically, there was nothing to worry about downhill, and when it flared up in a tree, they would just put some water on it and put it out. It was so simple, I couldn't believe it. Of course, it wasn't a fire completely out of control over a vast area, but still, it was done in such a clever way. If the fire tried to cross that trail, they would just put it out there, because it would be confined to a small spot. After an hour or an hour and a half, the job was done. Some things were still burning down, but they weren't going anywhere because they were already burned out. When the fire reached the trail, it was completely extinguished. Then, of course, they said, "I hope you're going to give us a cup of tea." And we did. But what I want to say with that story is that I was chasing after the vṛttis, and I had no chance. I would say what they did is they went up the hill and started doing their mantra. They made a way to stop the fire from getting out of control. When it was moving here and there, there was no chance because it was going on all sides. If we try to control our mind and put a stop to the thoughts that are there, it's impossible. But we can work from the other side and start to make our practice more solid, to reinforce our sādhanā. It's there in the bhajan you were just singing: "Maiṁ hī kām, satsaṅga se jagā, tubaka etu baka nere." If you just think of it from a personal perspective, you let yourself be obsessed, be completely immersed in the satsaṅg. At the same time, in your mind, if the vṛttis are barking, then let them bark. But constantly bring your focus back towards the satsaṅg—this satsaṅg and this satsaṅg. The important part is the satsaṅg which is within. If you look at your thoughts in those two categories—things that are truly kusaṅg and things that are satsaṅg that you do or think within—you will notice there are things that are pure kusaṅg, but in the same way, there is some satsaṅg in us. Good society, good thoughts feed us. And the ones from the kusaṅg side pull us away from that, or just pull us back into Māyā. Our mantra is that which can be used to protect us also from those negative vṛttis. Every time we are doing meditation and we get lost in our vṛttis, we just bring ourselves back either to our breathing or to our mantra—to our mantra. It's like a safe point you can come to, to get away from them. The more we can concentrate, the vṛttis may still be going on, but if our concentration is on our mantra or on the satsaṅg, when those vṛttis come towards us, they are much easier to control. Or, like when those firefighters waited for the fire: rather than trying to control the vṛttis, we make that other part solid, that nourishing part of our life. We give food to those good things which are within and develop them more and more. So, I only lit a fire once there, and I never lit one again. Don't try it. But I can really relate to it here when I see those signs saying, "Don't light fires." We have terrifying fires in Australia, really huge ones. That one was actually nothing, but I've seen some really big ones. Śrīdīp Narambaghvānakīje. I don't know. God bless you. ...to really affect you within. And like when you have an anuṣṭhāna or you have a saṅkalpa, and it's already been going for some period of time, it forces itself to keep going. Because of the benefits you're having, and also just the sheer fact that you've done it so long—now why would you stop? It pulls itself along when it's hard. Is it good for you if you automatically attract the next self? Why stop? Is it not always necessary to have the same intensity and effort to get things started? All people who have kriya know the feeling that perhaps it's gotten to the evening and you haven't managed to do your kriya. When you've been doing it for so many years, you know that you should not miss it for one day. You think, "I'm just too tired today, this is impossible." But you still manage to do it because all of those years pull you. After doing it for so long, how could we miss it for one day? Yes, it will be done. And each thing which we can manage to get moving in our practice, we can put that into our spiritual lives in action. Once it's there, and it's going, and it's running, and you start to feel the beauty of it, then it pulls you along. Yes, it requires effort to get a new thing started, a new part of your sādhanā started. But once it's there, it's really, really worth it. Just looking at things, we can change and then start to move them and start to transform our lives—to somehow make that spiritual goal that we have, and that spiritual development which we strive for, to make that more and more the focus of what we do, and to just set it into every part of our lives, everything that we are doing. Then it becomes a bigger fire that pulls us along. One more bhajan. Oh, I already did "Kṛṣṇānī." That was it. It's not a long one. Niranjana sabha-dokha-banjana, ekola jave krida, ekola jave. Ye sabha-dokha-banjana prabhu-dipa niranjana, sabha-dokha-banjana Vishwadipa jyoti orame jage. Abha buddhi sabha dukkha panjana, isi nojarapna hi lage. Patañjali is not Patañjali. Prabhuddī abha dukkha pañjana, Prabhuddī sabha dukkha pañjana. Let us sing together. Glory of Divine. Let us express together our longing for Divine Love. I don't know if we can manage to sing like Indians, as our Gajananjī wished, but I am sure that our heart, that God will hear the longings of everybody. I am sure that God will hear your personal feelings. And I am sure that God will hear your personal address. Sata guru ase jota jagaavo, kandisha jo jagaavo. Sata guru ase jagaavo merati, mera mitaavo. Sata guru ase jota jagaavo. Thank you for watching. Śrī Satguru Deva Kī Jai, Oṁ Būlī Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai, Śrī Śrī Deva Īśvara. Mahādeva Kī Jai, Śrī Śrī Mādhava Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai, Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṃsvāmī Maheśvarānandjī, Satya Gurudeva Kī Jai. At the end, there, Oṁ Pūrṇimā Daha Pūrṇimā Dhām. Nakrīlā Obhājanā. I think all of you remember Swāmī Nirañjanā Nāñjī Mahārāj. Niranjana Nanji, we were at the Kumbha Mela in 2007. We were at a function just at the start of the Kumbh. All of the Swamijīs were there, all the Mahāmaṇḍaleśvaras of the Akhāṛā were there. Everyone was to give a short speech about the Kumbh, the meaning of Kumbh, and what they expected from the Kumbh, what should be the aims for the akhāra, and so on. There were some really beautiful speeches being made. The microphone was going one by one to everybody. Eventually, it came to Niranjan Ānandjī. And Niranjan Ānandjī, as you know, is that sort of personality from whom you expect something really special. Niranjan Ānandjī just started off with "Oṁ Pūrṇamadaḥ Pūrṇamidaṁ Purāṇāt." He just said that mantra, and then he just went, "Bus," which means 'enough.' And he gave the mic to the next person. Everyone else said, "Mahārājjī, Mahārājjī, what about your speech?" And he said, "Pūraṇ, it’s complete." Everything is inside the mantra. What more should I say? And that was it. He didn't say anything more. And everybody else there just went, "Oh, Niranjanānandhī Mahārāj Kī Jai." Whenever I hear that, I think of him, that mantra. I had many beautiful experiences with him, but one is in Kathu. Swamiji was building many mandirs in Kathu. He was building one mandir for the Divine Mother. Niranjanandajī was also in Kathu at that time. There were two choices of which devī the mandir could be for. One was called Hiṅglāj Devī and one was Kāmākṣī Devī. Part 2: A Meditation on the Inner Flame and the Treasure of Satsaṅg They are both Devīs associated with our Akhārā. So Swāmījī said, "Go to Nirañjana Rāñjī and ask him which one is better for this mandir, Kāmākṣī Devī or Hiṅglāj Devī." Of course, I went up to Niranjan and Anjī, such a special personality. We once had the joy of Premanānjī and myself going with Niranjan and Anjī in Avatārpuri to South India, to go and meet the Śaṅkarācārya in Śṛṅgagiri, one of the maṭhas. The access to that Śaṅkarācārya was so restricted, nobody could actually meet him. But I’ll never forget Niranjanandajī walking into the office where they were telling me and Premanandajī, "Nobody can meet him, he doesn’t meet anybody." And Niranjanandajī just walked into that office with this presence and said, "Oṁ Namo Nārāyaṇa." Satya Shakti—they ran out of the office and came back and said, "Please, please... Śaṅkarācārya is waiting for you." This bhajan somehow fits very much together. It’s one way I really like to meditate. It’s very simple. Just visualize that Jot, that light which Swāmījī has lit within us. Visualize that light. There are just two things: one is trying to breathe so softly that you don’t disturb that light. I don’t really care how I breathe, but just that it should be soft, really subtle. You know, as if the air would pass over that flame and it wouldn’t move at all. Breathe like that, as if when the air passes through a flame, the flame has not disappeared at all. That is how it should happen. The other thing is similar to this story with the fire extinguishers and the plastic chairs. I feel like that candle can be disturbed by the vṛttis which I have in my head. But like this candle here, this dīpak has the glass around it to protect it from the wind. I always feel like I can protect that light with my mantra, like a glass around it. So, in that same way, with that fire, they let the fire run. The vṛttis may still be running here, but when I’m concentrating on my mantra, I feel that I can protect that light and keep that stillness inside. It’s just one way that I love to meditate when I want to calm myself down. You can try it if you like. It’s very simple, but it’s really beautiful. I think we’ll have prayer. We already had prayer, but we’ll have another prayer. Śrīśrī Devpurījī Mahādev Dharm Samrāṭ Paramahaṁśrī Sohy Marvananpurī Mahārāj Kī Jai, Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar Paramahaṁśrī Sohy Maheśvaranpurī Satgurudeva Kī Jai. Om Jaya Gurudev Niranjanam Dhīnamam Ami Dhīnahita Kari. Bhava Bandhanari Hari Om, Jaya Jaya... Gurudev, devatā, yaha sab guru mūrati darī. Swāmī, guru mūrati darī kaha raya? Veda purāṇa kaha raya? Santa sujana guru mahimā bharī hariyo. Jaya jaya guru dev, yagya yor dāna. Avanatāpa Bahubhāntikīna Svāmī, Bahubhāntikīna Dīna Guru Jñānanna Hove, Dīna Prabhu Jñānanna Hove, Bhaṭaka Bhaṭakareṇa Jaya Jaya... Gurudev, mohamāyā sansār, bhāva sāgar bārī, Swāmī, bhāva sāgar bārī, satsaṅg jaja chālākar, satsaṅg nām chālākar, Guru pālame tyārī haryo, jaya jaya... Gurudev, Na na paant chale kale yugame, Rupa visar jave, Swami rupa visar jave, Hari Om, Jaya Guru. Svami Charan Seva Paavum, Atchor Ayal Ji Karam. Ācārya vandanā karaṁ caraṇaṁ vande śrī nāma hari oṁ jaya jaya... Gurudeva śrī deva purīśa paripūraṇa ānanda darśa svāmī ānanda darśa śrī dīpa prabhu satana manase śrī dīpa dayālu nija manase gurvāratī gāve hari oṁ jaya jaya... Gurudev Śrīdhī Pādayāle Prabhu, āpre ko lāje hamārī he Śrīdhī Pādayāle Kṛpāl Mahāśivāya Prakolaj Amariye Dīnānāthayānāth Kenāth Prabhujī Parabrahma Yāvatārīye. Dīnā nātā yā nātā ke nātā, Prabhujī, Pāra brāhma yā vatāriyai. Sīrī dīpa dāyāle, kṛpāle, Mahā Prābhu vā prakulājī hāmāriyai. Vyāpaka viśva carācarame ārī, cetana jota tumāriye. Prabhu vyāpaka viśvacarācarame, ārī cetana jota tumāriye. Prabhu nirguna se sarguna pane aaya, bhaktan ke hitakariye. Sridhi padayale kripal maha, Prabhu apra kholaji amariye. Aap ki sharan mein aay paray, aam dur bala das du kyari hai. Prabhu, aap kī śaraṇ meṁ āye pare, ām dūr bala dās du kyārī hai. Prabhu, najar niharo, pare utaro. Aap Kabīr dā vichāriye. Sīrdī padāyal kripāl Mahā Prabhu, aapra kolajī amāriye. Aap bin kaun āmare nāt hai, jin ko jai pukārī hai. Prabhu, aap vin kaun āmare nāt hain, jinn ko pukāri hain? Prabhu, jahā dekho, jahā aap hī āpo, nitya chetan nirākārī hain. Śrī Dīpadāyā, Kṛpāl Mahā, Prabhu Aprakolā, Jai Amārī Prabhu, Prabhu... Śrī pūjā deepa dayā lu dayā karo. Āpaka nāma sukha kariye. Prabhu kahe, Mādhavānandajī, āpake caraṇakamala balihāriye. Prabhu kahe, Mādhavānandajī, āpake caraṇ kamala palihāriye. Śrī deepadayāle kṛpāl Mahā Prabhu aprakulajayāriye. Oṁ, namaste. Śrī Gurudeva Purī Śādayālam māyā kyālam śarīram māyākānam hari rūpa jhase atītam manati nīrakārabase āgam majoni aparaliptam svarūpam śuṣudam sadā yogī japtam namo sava vyāpī guṇati tadeva prabhu dīpa dijo sadā carṇa sevā vegana haraṇa maṅgana karaṇām dharaṇa parāsa bharapaṁ. Parvati Nandana, Namo Sri Deepa, Sharna Dardhyan, Jai Jai Devadayal, Shiva Sumangalam, Mool Shri Deepa, Gyana Veda Kya Mata, Sadara Ho Naku Vandho Charna, Gurudevake Shri Deva Purusha, Shukudai Yogayogati, Jai Sumrati Prabhu Jane Bhaaru Blai. Timira Gai Oro Dattaravi Bhai Gyano Jiao Shri Deepa Prabhu Shakavi Nati Sanjo Dina Dayao Namoh Namoh Guru Devaji, Koti Koti Pranam, Palaka Palaka Prabhu Vinati, Sukhasagar Nijanam, Namalya Sabobare Anando Tayapad, Asad Guru Nechishyam Apmam Pranadham, Paramahansa Gurudevajī, Tinaloka Kedev, Surnara Muni, Sabhsanta Jananī, Totakarta Śiv, Satguru Samdhata Nahī, Sabh Jagamangana Har, Kya Rājā, Kya Bhadasha, Sabhī Karare Dwār, Rāma Kṛṣṇa se kaun bare, usne bhī gurū kī. Tiena lok ke naate he, Satguru ke adin Satguru purna Brahma he. Ye tan vishakhi melari puram rita ki tad. Shri Shri Satguru mele tobe sastra jan. Guru mūrti mukha candra mā sevaka nena cakor aṣṭa pahar nira khatāram guru carṇa kamalaki or. Om Guru Brahma Guru Viṣṇu Guru Devo Maheśvara Gurur Sākṣāt Parambrahma Tasmai Śrī Guruve Namaha. Dhyāna mūlam Guru mūrti, pūjya mūlam Guru param. Mantra Mūlam Guru Vākyam, Mokṣa Mūlam Guru Kṛpā. Om Dīp Jyoti Parambrahma, Dīpam Sāve Mohanam, Dīpanam Sajjate Savam Sandhyā Dīpam Sarav Satyam. Om Namo Prabhu Dīpa Vināsi, Api Brahma, Api Viṣṇu, Apo Kelas Kevasi, Apo Narda, Apo Śarda. Apo Sesukrāsi, Apo Dhyānī, Apo Gyānī, Apo Yoprakāśī, Apo Deva Sabdevī, Apo Soprakāśī, Apo Brahmanivānī, Apo Chodakevāsī, Apo Vedam Kegyatā, Apo Bhakturvāsī, Apo Satnām Kedatā, Apo Nisrūpa Kegyatā. Om Namo Prabhudī Pranāma Brahmanandan Uruvāsī. Om Bole Śrī Deep Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya. Śrī Śrī Dev Puruṣa Mahādeva Kī Jaya. Dharam Samrat Paramahaṁśrī Svāmī Madhavānandapurījī Mahārāj Kī Jai, Viśva Guru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁśrī Svāmī Maheśvarānandapurījī Satguru Deva Kī Je, Sat Sanātana Dharma Kī Je, Āj Kī Ānanda Kī Je, Sabhā Santaṛṣi Mānī Mahātmo Kī Je. I have a very important announcement to make. I’m getting pinned here. This is very important. I’ve been doing now for one and a half months research around Europe’s Yoga and Daily Life centers, and I’ve been torturing people all the time by trying to ring the bell and do this at the same time. Two things that I’ve discovered: one is, it’s not in my destiny to do this in this lifetime properly. I’m just not coordinated enough. And the second one is that this bell is the easiest one to ring in the whole of Europe. Some of them seem like they have some special mechanism that they just get stuck. But this one is great. I think we’ll carry it with us. One more short thing, then somebody should sing Bāḍan. I got asked many times today about what my name means. What does my name mean? Sorry, maybe I should say proper English. What does my name mean? Never learn English from an Australian, by the way. It’s a disaster. My name, if an Indian would translate it, they always translate it as just meaning appreciation or glory. And Rāj means king. So they would say that it’s the one who gets appreciated a lot. I actually see it in a very different way. For me, what it means is just appreciation. As everybody knows, the names which were given by Swāmījī are something that we should try and fulfill, or some attribute of ourselves that we should try to develop. For me, that is just appreciation or glory. But I feel that it is about the fact that I should be the one who appreciates everybody—to be like the king of appreciating people. Because really, as I go around Europe, I just feel more and more to tell people how great this whole thing that Swāmījī has made is—this whole system, his world, his ashrams, and the people inside. And for me, what I should awaken with that name is just to try and make people as aware as possible of that treasure which we all have. As I was saying the other night, you know, everywhere I would go and come into satsaṅg, and there is such an energy and such a beauty. And for me, coming from outside, it was so strong. When you are inside on a very hot day, when you are inside a room that is air-conditioned, after a while you don’t notice how cold it is inside. Or also in the winter, when you are in a warm house, you don’t notice how warm it is inside. But when you come from outside to inside, you certainly notice how warm it is inside. And I just feel, as someone who is coming from a different perspective and comes from Jadan, but I’ve never really been in Europe around to all of the ashrams. For me, when I come into the ashram, it’s just like, oh wow, that’s amazing. You feel that energy of so many people who’ve been there so long, and so much of Swāmījī’s energy inside. And that 40 years that Swamiji’s teaching there—40 years or 30 years, you know, different places, it’s a different time. So beautiful. And I said that for me, this is what I should be doing with that name: just trying to make people aware of how beautiful a thing we have. What a beauty it is to have Swāmījī and his teachings, and to have all of us as brothers and sisters in this family, and to have people who are so expert in what they are doing from practicing it such a long time—in Gajānanjī and translating bhajans. And today I was sitting upstairs, and I thought, "How should I miss Vivek Purījī’s teaching Ghaṭu praṇām? Because if I should learn it from somebody, I should learn it from him." I thought, I can’t miss Vivek Purījī’s Kathā Praṇām. If I need to learn that, I need to learn it from him. He has such an experience of teaching classes. Where do you find that? In what other school do you find that? And everywhere, there are people who are so special and have such an experience. And we should just take advantage of it. Swamiji, in all of that time, and you know, it’s one thing to practice yoga, but the way that Swamiji can explain it—I know in the Kumbh Melā, I’ve sat there in so many satsaṅgs and listened to so many saints giving pravacana in those programs. Many of them are really, really great speakers. But all of them, when it comes to the subject of yoga, they give the mic to Swāmījī. There is no question. In the Akhara, if somebody asks a question about yoga, they all just go, "Swamiji?" Because nobody can explain and talk about the subject like Swāmījī. Last year, there was one really great Mahant, one yogī from Haridwar, in Jadan. And he was sitting on the stage with Swāmījī. And Swamiji started to speak. This was a Hindi lecture, and it was about yoga and the origins of yoga and everything. And this Mahenjī, he was already in his sixties. And afterwards, I was sitting with him in his jhupā. And he just said, "I’ve never heard it explained like that before." He was speechless, and we have that. It’s not something to be taken lightly. It’s not something to be listened to, you know, just with half an ear. It’s such a knowledge and such a gift. You just shouldn’t miss it. And the same for everybody, the ashrams which we have and the chance, at least once a week, to have satsaṅg together. Think through your week at all of the stupid things which you spend two hours on. And make sure you drop one of those and never miss satsaṅg. And be sure that you should reject those things and never miss satsaṅg. Because there is no chance like that—to always come together and to just reinforce that, to somehow put more ghee in our jyoti. Just don’t forget it. Śrīdhar Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān, Nikita. Āśaramjī story, oh. Yes, it’s related to this topic. One story from Kumbh Melā. Again, 2007. Ponovo 2007. There is one very famous saint in India, especially in Gujarat and Rajasthan. You may have heard of him, his name is Āśaramjī Bapu. Āśaramjī Bapu. And for instance, when he gives satsaṅg, I remember in Mumbai he gave satsaṅg and 250,000 people were there every satsaṅg. And in the Kumbh Mela, he had this huge tent, and it could fit about 60,000 people. I was sent there one day by Swāmījī to invite him to come to our camp. I went there before the satsaṅg would start. It was full, completely full. But there was one curtain, and I was standing inside the curtain, waiting for him to come so that he would go on the stage, because there was one place where his car could come in and then go directly onto the stage. So, I’m sorry, sorry... Check out the audio. You got put on, put to do the auto either premise. They do the golf was quite a thing because outside there were 60,000 people singing, but John, inside was just really peaceful because I was there, and I was the only person there below a stressor in the Santa. I was kind of looking between the curtain and out at all these people, and then... The same as putting that bubble around your jīva, you know. The vṛttis were going on outside, but it was peaceful inside. Āśaramjī came flying in in his car. There was dust, and he got out very quickly. He would be in his mid to late 60s, I would guess, and he came towards me, but really strong. It was real Śakti. And he just looked at me, and no one, as far as I know, no one had told him where I was from because there was nobody around to tell him anything. But he knows Swamiji, and he knows Guruji. Actually, when Gurujī was in the hospital in Jodhpur, he came especially to see Gurujī and spend an hour with him. Because many years ago they had ashrams very close to each other in Ahmedabad. Anyhow, he came towards me quite fast and just said, "You are from Māheśvarānandī, aren’t you?" And I said, "Yes, yes, I am coming from him." He said, "Maheśvarānandī is from Rajasthan." I said, "Yes, Mahārājī, of course." And he grabbed me by the shoulders. And he’s holding my shoulders and shaking me like this. And saying the same thing over and over again: don’t let go, don’t let go. He is great, he’s one of the great yogīs. Just hold on to his feet, don’t let go. He will try and kick you off; just don’t let go. I think you get the message, and that was coming from someone you know who is, in himself, such a huge Mahārājī, but he knew exactly what Swāmījī was about, and this was really what he was saying. I really can’t describe the emotion with which he was saying it, and the way he didn’t just want to shake me about it, but it was like he wanted to slam it into my brain. Don’t let go. And the way he said it, with so much energy, it was as if he wanted to immerse it in my head: "Don’t let go, don’t let go." Śrī Dīpnārā Bhagavān Kī Jai, Satguru Deva Kī Jai. Śrī Dīpnārā Bhagavān Kī Jai.