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It is a blessing to be here in this beautiful city of Perth, Australia, and that blessing is coming to you from this place. The questions we have today are: What is yoga in daily life? What is bhakti, or how to perform bhakti? What is dharma? These are beautiful questions. From the very beginning, this planet Earth has been known as a living planet. Life exists where there is a soul. The soul is the light of the cosmic Self, a reflection of that light. Each and every entity represents the cosmic Self or God. This soul is not the Self as Ātmā. Ātmā is Paramātmā. Ātmā itself is cosmic, while the soul is individual; this is the difference. According to Vedānta philosophy, the Bhagavad Gītā, and the great seers or self-realized yogīs, Ātmā is like space. Space cannot be destroyed. Ātmā cannot be burned, killed by any weapon, or destroyed by any element. Death cannot take it away, for Ātmā is eternal, immortal, and everlasting. The Jīva is a reflection and is individual. Destiny, karma, experiences, and life as an individual soul—the jīva is bound to karma, while Ātmā is free from karma. This is the distinction. As individual jīvas, we do not know since when we came into existence. It is said that in the endless universe, the jīva flutters through the waves of time, through darkness and light, experiencing happiness and unhappiness, pain and pleasure, manifesting from time to time. When it comes close to our planet—this living planet—the jīva enters into forms created through the five elements: space, air, fire, water, and earth. All living creatures, including vegetation, are composed of these five living elements. According to Vedic science, the creator has made 8.4 million different kinds of creatures. Chaurāsī Lakh is divided into three categories: Jalchar (creatures in water), Thalchar (creatures on earth), and Navchar (creatures in the air or space). This is the path or channel through which the jīvātmā enters this planet. The Upaniṣads say that the jīva resides through air, water, and fire. God Viṣṇu resides in the water. We reside in a body that is 85% water. In a drop of water, like a drop of fog, there is this jīva. It is not a matter of quantity but quality. Do not think an elephant has a big soul and an ant a small one. It is the quality. Fire is fire, whether a whole bush is burning or it is a tiny spark. The four ways of entering are: Udbhija (sprouting from plants), Svedaja (born from sweat, like bacteria), Aṇḍaja (born from an egg, like fish and birds), and Jarāyuja (born from a womb, like animals and humans). These are the four types among the 8.4 million creatures, one of which is the human. Therefore, it is said that there is only one human. In the ancient Sanskrit language, there is only one perfect word. Take "religion." Religion is religion, but now we say Hindu religion, Buddhist religion, Jewish religion, Christian religion. We put a title first, but we must return to the reality of religion. Similarly, there is only dharma or adharma—righteousness and injustice. There is no racism, no difference. Modern scientists also declare there is only one human, not Africans, Australians, Indians, Japanese, Chinese, or Americans. It is human. Human life is very difficult to obtain. Whether we came to this human body by chance, God gave us a chance, or it was our destiny and good karma, we do not know which good karma we performed as animals to become human. It is difficult to know, but we can say God was merciful and we received this human body. These 8.4 million different creatures are like one cycle through which the individual soul, the jīvātmā, travels. It is not that you must become an ant, then a bigger ant, then a rabbit, and so on in sequence. You do not know which point you are at. After the death of this body, the soul can travel anywhere. Do not think, "Now I am human and will always be born as human." No, you do not have a permanent reservation. Therefore, it is said human life is rare and is given for self-realization. Who am I? Ko’ham? Katham idaṁ jātam? Ko veya? Kathasya vidyate? Who am I? I am not this body. I am not this blood, not this thought, not this intellect, not this mind, not this emotion. My body, my blood, my emotion, my anger, my jealousy, my hate, my greed, my happiness. But who is constantly saying "my"? I, I—who is that "I"? This "I" is the Self, called Ātmā. Ko’ham—I am the Ātmā, which cannot be destroyed by any weapon, fire, or element. But you still do not know. We may intellectually know Ātmā is immortal and nothing can happen to it. We sit here very happy, thinking nothing will happen. But if a red-bellied snake or a brown snake appears, we will not sit calmly saying we are Ātmā; we will all move quickly. This is the difference between a realized ātmā jñānī and us. We are experiencers; we are practitioners. Ko’ham—"Know thyself"—is the answer to all your questions, sufferings, and troubles. Know thyself. Ko’ham katham—from where did I come? Do you know who you were in your last life? Before your last life? Before that? I do not know. Were we snakes, buffaloes, cows, rabbits, kangaroos, or what? I do not know. From where did we come? Perhaps we were in other countries, on another planet, or we were a fish. Ko’ham katham—know your past. That is called trikāl darśī—one who sees past, present, and future. We do not know the past, we only know the present now, and we do not know the future. But those Brahmajñānīs, Trikadarśīs, they know past, present, and future. We adore them as Satguru Deva. We are all here as disciples, even if we are not good disciples and do not follow what we are saying. Otherwise, all problems would be gone. Ko’ham? Kutaḥ āyātaḥ? Idam kutaḥ? And where am I going now? What is the purpose of my coming? Kove kartasya vidyate. What am I doing? Where will it lead me? After death, we do not know. It is like jumping into nothingness, into darkness. There is no ground, no floor. May some light guide us, or maybe darkness will guide us. It depends on our karma. How good were you to others? How much did you understand others? How much did you help others? How much trouble you caused someone—that is your need, and the fruits you will get accordingly. So human life is given to know thyself. Humans are born as protectors, not destroyers. For that purpose, it is said that through this human body, humans have something very special which other creatures do not possess to the same degree: intellect, buddhi. Human intellect can be trained and educated. It needs education. And depending on the kind of society you are in, you will think and act accordingly. Therefore, it is very important to have satsaṅg (good company). In good society you become good, and in bad society you become bad. So try to guide everyone on the right path. Do not misguide. If you cannot remove the thorns from the path, at least do not throw thorns on the path—thorns of troubles. Though it is said again, the body is not immortal. The body will die. Some say the body will not die, but the elements will merge back into the elements. When the soul leaves the body, the water element returns to water, the fire element to fire, and so on. Again, you carry on, but as a book of your destiny, your karmas, you carry it on your back like a backpack. God does not have storerooms somewhere where they check your book; it is always with you. It is a perfect system. The cosmic system is a perfect, sustainable system. You cannot throw it away; you cannot get rid of it. Again, you have to come back to work to pay back the karmas. So before that, human life is given. Now, we are lucky that God incarnates for us also in human form. Great ṛṣis and learned persons give us valuable lessons and practices. The first question is whether we can attain self-realization in this life. How long we have, we do not know. It is not dependent on your age; the older one will not necessarily die first. Then all older people would be very unhappy and angry, saying, "How do you say we will die first? We will see who dies first, you or me." This is not decided by humans; it is decided by destiny, by cosmic law. We all sitting here do not know when, where, or how this body will fall to the ground, unable to move even a small finger. We do not know through which pain we will die. Maybe we are not afraid of death, but the process of dying is very painful. So, may God protect us and give us the blessing to pass away peacefully. Therefore, oh man, try to keep your body longer and practice. In Āyurveda it is said, "Pahala sukha nirogī kāyā"—the first happiness is a healthy body. Though health is not everything, everything is nothing without health. To keep good health, there are three things: healthy nourishment, healthy practice, and a healthy society and environment. The bad habits we learn lifelong will torture us. Sometimes it is easy to get rid of an enemy, but not easy to get rid of bad habits. And we learn these in Kuśāṅga (bad company). Therefore, practice. Second is practice, and from God Śiva came the science of yoga, given to humanity for the well-being of humans and the entire planet. Practice special practices: āsanas (physical postures), exercises. Yoga in daily life is a scientific system designed accordingly from ancient, authentic literature for modern civilization. It is a very systematic system. Then we have our spiritual lineage: our mantras, our bhajans, our kīrtans, and devotion. Yoga in daily life means to practice every day—not only physical exercises, breath exercises, and meditation, but whatever you do, do it in the light and love of God. Who are we to judge someone? Who are we to criticize someone? When you criticize someone first, this old dirt will fall on you. Therefore, be alert and careful when you talk about someone negatively. If it is negative, you are here. God gave you a very good intellect and wisdom so that you filter the negativity and make it pure. In a completely dark room, if you come and say, "Please, darkness, go away," it will not go. You just put on the light, and darkness goes. Similarly, enter into the hearts of everyone—humans, animals, or plants—and understand. Use your wisdom. We are just guests here on this planet. Everything is given to us. What did you bring with you? Nothing. It was given to you, and it will be taken away. Why are you crying? It was not yours. So be happy. Nothing was yours, and nothing will remain forever. And when it is gone, why do you cry? It was not yours. But that is not easy. Your car is parked outside, and someone comes, breaks the window, turns the key, and drives away. And you say, "Hey, guy, this is my car." Stop. So we have much attachment to material life. Therefore, practice every day: compassion, understanding, forgiveness. Helpful hands have more value than folded hands only. So yoga in daily life is designed for physical, mental, social, and spiritual health, for self-realization or God-realization. If you practice systematically, you have bhajans, you have a spiritual path, you have everything. Now you cannot do anything unless you have love. For whom? For yourself. You have to learn to love thyself. If you love thyself, you will do nothing wrong. If you love thyself, you will not criticize someone negatively. You will not put people in trouble because you will realize that Ātmā and Paramātmā, each and every living entity, is myself. And myself is that cosmic Self. So, learn to love thyself. This is the first devotion, the first bhakti. When you love thyself—not selfishly, thinking "I want to have this and that, and you go away, it is mine"—that is not love; that is robbery. That is not good. When you love thyself, you will look into your heart and see a jungle—terrible, stony, bushy. There may be different wild creatures: snakes, scorpions, spiders, tigers, lions. Or it may be beautiful, like a blue sky, pure and clean. Everyone has differences within them. When we look inside ourselves, we see how many lives we have been suffering. In different yugas and times, there were different techniques that required much discipline and endurance of hardship, cold, hunger, and thirst. The Aboriginal people in Australia, living in the forest or bush, have the power to endure hunger, thirst, heat, and cold. They are one with nature, like a tree enduring all seasonal conditions. But we people, what we call civilized—I do not know if we are civilized or they are—if we drop you in a desert thousands of kilometers with nothing, in three days you will not be able to walk. Psychically, you will be down: fearful, ill, thirsty, hungry, tired, because we do not have that strength or immunity. So is that our life? How we live is very hard. Therefore, it is said in Kali Yuga there is only one hope, one basis: Nāma, the name, the mantra, God's name. Kali Yuga gave only Nāma Ādhāra, the name of God. But Gurudev gives us the mantra. Oh human, practice, practice, and you will cross the ocean of ignorance and suffering. Bhakti. Once Mahāprabhujī asked Holī Gurujī, "What do you wish? Siddhi? Levitation? Mokṣa? What would you like?" Holī Gurujī said, "If you want to give me, then only one thing: bhakti to thyself, O Mahāprabhujī, janam janam hari dās rakhi jo—if I have more lives, then in every life, please let me be thy servant, thy devotee." That one understands the Guru Tattva. All who did not understand the Guru Tattva will again fare into darkness and suffering. One great saint made a very nice bhajan: Bhakti Rodan Data Dījī Bhajan. O Lord! O giver! Dātā means the one who gives. God is giving to us. Who are we? A small creature, an ant, gets a grain of corn; an elephant gets hundreds of kilos. Who is feeding them? God. If you think you feed all, you are mistaken. So let us say: "Dīpa Nirañjana Sabhā Dukkha Bhañjana Prabhu, Dīpa Nirañjana Sabhā, Isī Mantrase Hove, Mantrase Bhanava Śrī Dīpa Nirañjana, Isī Mantrase Hove, Nirañjana Prabhu, Dīpa Nirañjana Sabhā." Kī Jai. So when Mahātma said, "O God, Gurudev, give me devotion. O Lord of the Lord, even in other lives, I do not forget you. I am not separated from you. I am not asking for gold or golden mines. I do not ask for any wealth. I do not ask for anything. Only one thing: devotion." Who does not have devotion is like a bird without wings. When the cat of death comes, it would like to fly away, but there are no wings; we cut off the feathers. It moves its muscles but cannot take off. Similarly, when we engage in negative karma or negative talking, we cut our wings of devotion, and then we are lost. Śubhakti. Therefore, human dharma is protection, not destruction. And there comes the word: "Ahiṃsā Paramo Dharma." Non-violence is the highest principle. Do not kill anyone. Do not kill for your food. That is why we are all vegetarian. You live here near the coast. You have seen how people fish. They take a fish out of the water. Do you know how it is suffering? It suffers. It opens its mouth and says, "Oh man, I have done nothing to you. Let me be." But this man does not understand the language of that fish. It is suffering. Can you imagine someone throws a hook in your mouth and pulls you up by your throat? It is immense pain. That fish does not die only once; it dies a million times. How many times? Each second, it dies twenty times. Pain, pain. Do not cause pain. That is the first thing. That is our dharma. So if you cannot remove the pain, then at least do not become the cause of the pain. You cannot tear, wash the tear, dry the tears; do not become the cause of the tears. That is human dharma. Therefore, I used to say: in the morning when you get up, greet God or Gurudev or your parents, the person you love, a holy saint, any god—Kṛṣṇa, Rāma, Jesus—anyone. But first open your eyes and look there. I always sleep on the side where I have all the pictures of Gurujī, so when I get up in the morning, I first look at Mahāprabhujī. Do not put aggressive pictures; some put pictures with pistols or aggressive titles. An aggressive picture affects you the whole day; it disturbs your energy. Then think, "I am human." And what makes me human? The qualities: human qualities. And what are the human qualities? Love, understanding, forgiveness, kindness, humbleness, supportiveness, protectiveness. And what is not a human quality? Anger, hate, jealousy, greed, ego, cruelties—this all is the devil's. The real devil drinks the blood of others only, but our inner devils drink thy blood and the blood of others. So what is... A human and human quality: I am human. What makes me human? And what is my human dharma? Protection. There was one master and disciple walking through the bush. There was a small, nice pond with very pure, good water. They decided to wash their hands and drink. A scorpion fell into the water. The master put his hand under the water, lifted the scorpion, and dropped it outside. While putting it down, the scorpion stung the master's finger. The scorpion ran and fell into the water again, suffering. The master took it out with his left hand, trying to place it farther away in some bush, and it stung his thumb. Somehow it ran into the water again. After twenty minutes, it fell in again. The master put both hands to take it out. The disciple said, "What are you doing, Master? This stupid scorpion always stings your hands. Just let me kill it." The master said, "No, no, no. You know, my nature is to protect, and his nature is to sting someone if touched. This is the fight between him and me. I do not want him to suffer and die in the water. He is frightened, so he thinks I want to take him away." Similarly, sometimes we have nasty people like scorpions. But you need not go and hug them; instead, say, as God says, "Sarve bhavantu sukhī"—all should be happy. God, give them right consciousness. God, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing. So this is our dharma. In our dharma we follow. We do not make differences among gods, because there is only one God, the universal God, the cosmic God. He has no form; He has no name. We gave the name. We gave the name Kṛṣṇa, Rāma, Buddha, Jesus, Allah, Narsingha Avatāra. We gave the name to many Avatāras. He did not say, "My name is this." So do not get stuck on the name and language only. See the reality. That is important. One great saint, Sūrdās, said a beautiful bhajan: "Prabhujī mere avaguṇa chittana dharo, sama draṣṭi hai nāma tyāro, chāhe to para karo, Prabhujī moje mere avaguṇa chittana dharo." O God, please do not notice my mistakes. Do not hold my mistakes in your heart or mind. Sam drasṭī hai nāma tyāro, Lord. You are known as the God of equal vision. You love all equally. Chahe to par karo, if you want, Lord, you can let me cross this ocean of suffering. Paras guṇ, avaguṇ nai chit dhare. There is a stone called Paras. It is very, very rare, almost only in fairy tales. When you touch iron with that Paras stone, the iron becomes gold. Touch that stone to a railway line, and the entire railway from here to Sydney would become gold. Before the train reaches Sydney, it would all be stolen. He said, the same iron—one knife in a butcher's house and one knife on the altar for making prasāda. Paras guṇa nahī deke. But that Paras does not see if this iron knife is from a butcher's house or from the altar. The dharma of the Pāras is that any kind of iron piece, in any form, it will make gold because it does not see that quality in others. Similarly, we say, "Lord, whatever we have done, forgive us. Do not differentiate and degrade me. Whatever has happened, happened out of my ignorance." The difference between Paras and Gurudev: Paras can only make iron into gold, but that Paras cannot make iron into a Paras. But Gurudev can make disciples into a Gurudev. If one follows, one becomes a disciple. To understand, there was a master and disciple living somewhere in the bush, with a village a few kilometers away. Once a week, the disciple went to the village to bring food. Every evening, Gurujī held a satsaṅg, nicely telling him, "We are ātmā. Ātmā is in everyone." One day, when the disciple went to the village, the people shouted at him, "Go away, run away, hide yourself!" He said, "Why?" Because a crazy elephant is coming. Go away quickly. The elephant was coming. The disciple thought, "Why should I run away? My Gurudev said in everyone is Ātmā. So this elephant is also Ātmā. I trust my Gurudev's words. Nothing will happen to me." So he walked peacefully, and the elephant came, took him in its trunk. Oh, God. The disciple said, "Hey, Ātmā, what are you doing?" Luckily, it did not squeeze him. It threw him far away, inside some other house's fence. Luckily there was a swimming pool, so he fell into the pool, but he broke his rib. He said, "Master, I cannot understand you. It is not true what you say, Master." He went back to the āśram and said, "Gurujī, I believe you." Gurujī said, "Very good. I trust your every word." The disciple said, "It is not good." Gurujī asked, "Why? I trusted your words. You said in everyone is Ātmā, and now look what happened to me." Gurujī said, "What happened?" The disciple explained, "The people were telling me to run away. I said, 'Why should I run away? Because in everyone is Ātmā.' They said, 'A crazy elephant is coming. Go away, hide yourself.' But Gurujī said in everyone is Ātmā. I trusted your words, and this happened." Gurujī said, "Use your viveka (discrimination), use your common sense, use your viveka to understand Guru Vākya (the Guru's words)." The disciple asked, "What should I understand? I understand that you said in everybody, the elephant is also God." Gurujī said, "Yes, my son, but the people who were warning you—in them is also God. You did not listen to them, and that is why this happened. If you had used your viveka and considered that the people warning you also contain God..." So it is sometimes difficult to understand the Master. But you have to utilize your bhakti and use viveka. You build a house with doors and windows. The window is not for going in and out; you have the door for that. If you have a flat on the 10th floor with a beautiful big window and a beautiful door to the corridor, and you say, "I do not want to go by the door, I will go through my window," and jump, you will suffer the consequences. So it is about how to understand a good thing: practice, practice, then the guru will protect you. The holy Gurujī said in one bhajan, "Satguru, they will protect you." Do not have fear. Be fearless. So, surrender, devotion. That is enough for today. I wish you all the best. Next time in the satsaṅg we will have another. So what is yoga in daily life? What is human life? What is bhakti? What is human dharma? And how to understand Gurudev? These were your questions answered in this lecture. Read the Līlā Amṛt, and you will get many, many answers to your questions.