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Part 1: The Gift of the Lota and the Light of Diwali Yes, and you can also carry it on your head. Okay? So, you will get everybody one lota. Good. And this is an organic schism. La, do, la, la, do, give you. Okay, so, I think we will give it to you. There we are. Okay? Amṛta Bunda Hadvāra Sāvegaāra Jai Indrajāesa Sayāva Esa Rāma Esa Sattva Guru Esa Rāma Esa Brahma Niṣṭha Guru Brahma Akhaṇḍa Dhyāna Dhāreśi Vaśeṣa Aha Brahma Niṣṭha Guru Brahma Akhaṇḍa Dhyāna Dare Śiva Śeṣa Hari Jhan Dhyāna Dare Śiva Śeṣa Hari Vṛtti Achala Sadai Sthirah Ujesa Yes, sir. What happened? For chocolate? You want a chocolate? Okay. You do black smoke, no? Yes. Sada Jeeva Jinnake Naam Se Hote, Sada Bhav Paar Hai, Mila Jaye Satgati Guru Charan Rajar Jho Sada Maastak Dar Hai. Shri Deet Narayan Mahāprabhujī... Satsaṅge re jākake vikaṭ, saṅkaṭ nikaṭ nahī̃ āvahī. Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī īśake avatā rahe, chāg jīva jinake nāma se oḍe, sadā bhāva pah rahe. Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī śaketarāī. Jag jīva jinake nām se Ode sadābhāvaparai Veparabrahma prabhu vahee, Jagake dhātā manatu Jagadīśake avatāra Śrī Dīt Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī, Ishake avatāra hai Jag jīva jina ke nām se. Hote sada bhava para hai Śrī Dīpt Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī, Īśa ke avatāra hai. Jag jīva jīna ke nāma se ote sada vāpa para hai. Satguru kṛpā se kāma krodha aru lobha nikaṭa na āvahi. Jag mau māyā, guru kṛpā se dhūra nitya rāhāvai, Śrī Dīpt Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī. Īśa kē āvatāra he, jagajīvā jina kē nāmasē hotē sadāvā pārāhe. Śrīdīp Nārāyaṁ Mā Prabhojī, Īśa ke āvatāra rahe, Jagal Jīva Jinn ke nām se ote sadā bhava par rahe. Guru kī mano hāṁurati, sadā dharma kare, jag māyā ke jāl se. Satgurū kṛpāhi aṅkavidāna pīṭha vānnara hai, jisapā karde gurū sakāhī merā parāye śrīdhī Nārāyaṁ. This is for Bhakti Sāgara, Dāsarāja Gurujī. This is for Om Apīs. And this is for making coffee to share. To make coffee to share. Alright, give it to Mā. I greet in you, God. Ram, I seek the protection of God, Rāma, and we worship the God, Rāma. Rāma is the incarnation of Viṣṇu. Before Kṛṣṇa was the incarnation of the God Rāma. This festival, which is, you may say, a cultural, social, spiritual, and religious festival. Religious means not in that sense which creates conflict. Religion means to reunite, so religion means uniting, not dividing. Religion is there where there is knowledge. And knowledge is there where there is love, and where there is love, there is God, and where there is God, there is oneness. Therefore, every spiritual event and festival is for the better education and spiritual development of humans. So, God Rāma or God Viṣṇu or any other 24 incarnations of Viṣṇu, all were to protect the bhaktas, protect the dharma, protect this planet, protect all creatures. God is that which has love, equal love to all creatures. Spirituality is that which has equal love for all creatures. The spiritual experiences are there with equal respect to all creatures. The realization of God is that which does not want to see the flowing of the blood of any creature. It should not flow the blood in battlefields, in the slaughterhouse, or anywhere. That is not in the sense of God; it doesn’t matter in which God you believe. Otherwise, you did not understand God, that message of God, and therefore God comes to protect everyone. Entire creatures are children of God. So Diwali is celebrated in honor of God Rāma, that God Rāma who was 5000 or more than 5000 years before Kṛṣṇa. God Rāma incarnated in Ayodhyā, the Sūryavaṁśa, it’s called the dynasty of the sun, Raghu Kul, the dynasty of the Raghu. So, this is the day of the light. Light means love, light means consciousness, light means wisdom, and light means our life. It is that light which should guide us, and that light is satsaṅg. That light is the light of happiness. It is that light which brings us out of our anxiety, our suffering, and our ignorance. Therefore, the Pavali is the festival of love, the festival of mercy, and it is the victory over darkness. Therefore, it is said, "Satyame vajayate." Finally, the victory is there where God comes and helps, because God is on that part of the truth, the dharma. Therefore, God does not incarnate as a poor person to create conflicts. No holy saint will come into this world to bring dispute into human societies. There was a great Sufi saint, his name was Mavelana in Turkey. He was there and he said, "Come to me as you are." It means it doesn’t matter if you are good or bad, if you are a sinner or not. You come to me because I love you, I love your heart, I love your soul. And the same Mahātma Gāndhījī said, "We do not hate the sinner, we hate the sin." Therefore, those actions or thoughts—anything we have, those qualities in our action, in our thoughts, or in our words—we should avoid that and always meet together to have divine functions, like today we have. So you travel from so many countries around the world. I welcome you here in our beautiful spiritual home, Jadan. This is a spiritual spot in India where thousands of people from around the world and thousands of people from India come here to meditate and give their very humble, very kind support, making karma yoga. Yoga karma śukauśalam, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said, "O Arjuna, all your yoga sādhanā will be fruitful, or you will be successful through doing the karma." Ache karma, good karma. Ko karma, bad karma. What are the ko karmas? kisi prāṇī kā khūn nahi bahana chahiye. So, this ashram is dedicated to spirituality, for those seekers who seek unity, love, understanding, and protection. Among the nations, among the cultures, and among the religions, so it is a unity in diversity. This is the home, and it is an example for the whole world of how we are here creating the spiritual atmosphere, and all are welcome. Thank you for coming here on your long journey, and I wish you a very good, happy stay here in our Jadan Ashram, Kathu Ashram, Jaipur, Kailash, Nepal, Balaguda, everywhere, and in all of India and in the whole world. So, welcome, and I wish you a happy, happy Diwali. This is the light, a festival of the light. Then God Rāma came back after 14 years, journeyed through the different parts of the world, and then he came back to Ayodhyā. People were decorating the trees with fruits, many flowers, hanging kheer, milk, and yogurts, and they made many homemade sweets. At that time, there were no chocolate factories, okay? And there was no plastic and nothing. It was organic, very beautiful. At evening, as a guideline, you know, they had a lighting of the oil lamps everywhere, hanging oil lamps on the tree branches so people could see the way how God Rāma came. And it was a festival for many days, people... We were enjoying having satsaṅg and singing and eating and so on, so that was very great. So I see today, like in Deepal Ashram, Jadan Ashram, lights came from different parts of the world, and we meet again here. So, we wish you a very happy stay, and also our dear brothers, sisters, spiritual seekers, practitioners of yoga and their life, or any on the spiritual path, devotees of Gurudev, and all who believe on the spiritual path. Are Hindus or Muslims or Christians or Buddhists or anyone, I wish you very blessed and happy Diwali. God bless you, God protect you. And according to that calendar, today is the beginning of the new year, so I wish you a Happy New Year. And now, very... Special that today in Brahmā Mūrta was the incarnation of our Bhagavān, universally worshipped Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī of Barikattu, our grand, grand, grand Gurudev from our spiritual lineage. So I bless you on behalf of Om Śrī Alak Purī Jī Siddha Pīṭha that they bless us with happiness, good health, harmony, peace, love, understanding, and spirituality. Bless you all. Om Śānti Śānti... Deep Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Dev Puruṣa Mahādev Mādhava Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān Sanātana Dharma Śrī Rām Jaya Rām Jaya Jaya Rām Śrī Rām Jaya Rām Śrī Rām Jai Rām Jai Śrī Rām Jai Rām Śrī Rām Jai Rām Jai Jai Rām Śrī Rām Jai Rām Jai Jai Rām. Shri Rām Jai Rām, Shri Rām Jaya Rām, Jaya Jaya Rām. Shri Rām Jaya Rām, Rām Shri Rām, Jaya Rām, Jaya Jaya Rām. Shri Rām Jaya Rām, Jaya Jaya Rām. Shri Rām Jaya Rām, Jaya Jaya Rām. Śyāvara Rāma Candra Bhagavān kī jaya. Viśvagurumaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṃsa Āśramānandījī Gurudeva kī jaya. Bada ho bhāgyunā deshra, śānti jī will sing bhajan, and this bhajan means: "Baḍā ho bhāg un deshra jān, Satguru liyā avatāra." Fortunate or lucky is that country where Satguru Dev incarnated. Toi charan merī vandanā ho baram bar lakham bar. My adoration to Satguru Dev million times. My adoration to that holy mother who gave birth to that Satguru Dev. My adoration to that place where the Satguru Dev incarnates. And like this, this bhajan, our dear Sādhvī Dr. Shantījī will sing for you, and you can sing with Deep Nayan Bhagwan Ojī Sattagurulīya avatāra ādeśa, Ojī Sattagurulīya tanija, Ojī Sattagurulīya avatāra ādeśa. Ojīyā ojī charaṇakam allāh baliyā pahāḍariyā ojīhī anuśāsanā viprahārā ādeśerā sattaguruliyā avatāra. Ojīna sukhīyakā ojī yasya ojī sattagurulīya eke na pasāra jama rāja kī ojī eke na jāra pasāra kīya ojī. ... Dīvālī and a lot of happiness in the new year. Greetings to all from Zagreb. Yesterday we had a great celebration of Dīvālī, and here I just wanted to call you and greet you. A time for the family and to be together with the family, and that’s what we’re doing here. We’re together with Gurujī, we’re together celebrating Mahāprabhujī’s birthday, and we’re together as Guru brothers and sisters, enjoying satsaṅg. Time in the ashram is so special for every moment of that time. We should take everything out of it that we can. It’s also a time, as Swamījī has said several times, of forgiveness. The last year has gone, the financial... The year has also gone, and also our actions from the past year. What is done is done. What we did which we’re happy with, which was good, that is great. And what we did which was a mistake, or if we’ve offended somebody or done something that we wished we... Hadn’t done to somebody, that is also gone, and we ask people for forgiveness for that. But from this day, the new account starts, a new year starts, so it’s very important at this time also to give that same forgiveness to everybody else. That is around us. Let what happened in the past year go. Let ourselves be in harmony with each other, and also to be in harmony with ourselves, so that we start fresh and we just make the most, the best of what we can of this year that is with us now, what is with us in our hands. We’re here with Swāmījī, we’re here with each other, we’re here in the āśram. It’s a place where you come to nourish your sādhanā, to nourish your spiritual growth, your spiritual development, and also to take it to a new stage, a new stage, a new step, a new rising up on your path, even if it’s small, but to take it somewhere. So every moment which we have here with Swamijī, every moment which we have here in the āśram, it’s just such a treasure that it cannot be described. How many lives have we waited for this moment? How many days have we waited for this moment? How many days have you worked towards this time where you could come to Jadam and be with Swamiji? We just can’t afford to waste a moment of it. Swamiji is giving us so much of his time, so much of his guidance, so much of his knowledge, his blessings, the mantras, the sādhanā. We have to take it, we have to grab it and make the most of it while we can. Make the most of every moment that we have. Who knows when this opportunity will come to us again. And I think today, as you saw, we all got this Amṛt Kalaś. It’s a very small thing, but take it symbolically about how special it is. Every time that you put water inside it, every time that you use it, that water becomes a prasād. It becomes a prasād from Swāmījī. It becomes a prasad from Mahāprabhujī’s birthday. It becomes a prasad from Diwali. It becomes that amṛta. That’s why Swāmījī called it Amṛt Kalaś. Every moment when we can be conscious that we’re getting something so special out of that lotā, that becomes something more special for us. It becomes a treasure in our lives that we can take with us anywhere. Same with the lotā. As much as we use it, there’s so much we will get out of it. As much as we appreciate it, as much as we put it into practice in our lives, so much we will get out of it. And that’s the same with every sādhanā that Swāmījī has given us, with every bhajan that we have from Mahāprabhujī and from Gurujī, and the ocean of meaning which is inside, the treasures of knowledge which are inside, the Mantra, which we have, and how much we appreciate it, how much we nurture it, how much time we spend thinking of it and letting it grow within us, letting it shine within us. It is in our hands how much we take out of that. Such an opportunity everybody doesn’t have. Just we should appreciate how lucky we are in all things which we have, to be here, to be with Swāmījī, to be a disciple, however clumsy we may be as disciples. However many mistakes we may make, but at least we’re all trying our best, holding on, or as I was saying this morning, hanging on, just hanging on as dearly as we can to the path and to Swāmījī, and making the most of it. A few days ago, I guess most people who were coming from Europe now were aware that Mr. Steve Jobs, the head of Apple, passed away. And there was one thing I read the other day, talking about how Apple goes about making their products. This may seem off the track, but listen for a moment, please. They were saying there’s one designer there who’s also very famous. He was saying, actually, in other companies normally first they make the parts that go into some gadget, and then the engineers give it to the design team, and they make something to fit the parts. But why he thinks that Apple was so successful is that they did it in the opposite direction. First, they make the design of what the gadget should look like, how it should be, and how big it should be, and then they make the parts to fit that. And the design team doesn’t care how hard it is for the engineers, but they have to manage to make things smaller or more compact, or fit them together, or make one thing do five things instead of one. So that it can fit into that design. And when I read that, I immediately thought of something more towards what we’re doing. You know, in our daily lives, we take what comes to us of our daily routine, our work, and this and that, and so on. And around that, we fit our yoga practice, or fit our yoga life, or fit our path. Now imagine if we all would do it the Apple way. The first thing is our path, our practice, and our discipleship with Swāmījī. And then our lives have to fit into that space. It would be difficult at first, but as those engineers in the company manage. We can also make it fit inside. It may just take some adjustments here or there, or thinking about which space to put it in. But our first priority in our life should be our sādhanā and our bhakti and our discipleship. Of course, that doesn’t mean that life stops. In Apple also, it doesn’t mean the gadgets don’t function. They function very well, but the way that you look at it, the perspective with which they look at it, makes the beauty in the design. And imagine bringing that same beauty to your own life by looking at it from that perspective. Of course, it’s not easy. It takes time. It takes a rearrangement. But think about your priorities. What is the most important thing that we have in this life? Our sādhanā and our family. This new year, let’s make our lives try and make them revolve around those things. It’s amazing how many of the other things which we do are not so important, but they tend to dominate time. They tend to take more of our time than they really deserve, and those things that really deserve our time perhaps are not getting enough attention. Wish you all the best for your time in Jatam. Take everything out of it that you can. It doesn’t matter if you’re here for two days or for two weeks. Or two months, or two years, or two lives, or whatever it is. Just take the essence out of every single second that you’re here. I was sitting somewhere the other day, and I heard one—it’s actually a film song, I think—and it said, "Don’t think about how many moments you have to live in this life, but think about how much of this life you..." Can fit in this moment that you have now. Enjoy, and enjoy with Swamijī. Om Bole Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Jai, Śrī Śrī Dev Puruṣa Mahādeva Kī Jai, Dharma Samrāṭ Paramahaṃśrī Svāmī Madhavānand Purījī Mahārāj Kī Jai, Viśva Guru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṃśrī Svāmī Maheśvarānand Purījī Satguru Deva Kī Jai. How do you say, call the check? Well, Jasarājī spoke about this Loṭha. Amṛt Kalaś, Dhanvantarī, from Samudra Manthana. But this Loka has a very great meaning, okay? Should I tell you? Again, that is the Nāda Brahma. Yes? Why? It is not empty. It has the Nāda in itself. You hear? So, there is a beautiful poem in Rajasthani bhajans, languages. Many people, when they sing the bhajan, before that they sing one poem, Doha. And in that poem, in Doha, the Satguru Dev is compared with this Loṭhā. This is the Satguru Dev. Okay? Rozumis? Okay. And this is something that today people cannot understand. Technologies changed. But I do remember when, it was just before 25-30 years, anyone who went from one village to another village for traveling somewhere, all people, there was no, so many transportation, no car, no truck, no buses which went quickly. Some were riding on the back of the horse, some with the ox cart or with the camels, and so on, or some walking. It was, thanks to God, not like these concrete roads, more organic, more beautiful. On this road, you cannot walk with or without shoes long. You will be very tired, but on the sandy road you can walk the whole day and you will not be tired, because it’s automatic acupressure massage. So, everyone, they used to have one lotha with them. If you go somewhere, you must have this lotha with you. And one rope, you see that I have now on my stomach, okay, like this, which is about 10 to 15 meters long. Understand? You see the picture? Yes. Everywhere, after a few kilometers, somewhere, even outside of the villages, there was somewhere a water well, an open water well, a kuwa, a bavdi, where you could walk down to the water. There were no water pipes, nothing. So when you were thirsty, you came to the water well, and with the rope, you tied your lotā and hung the lotā, hang on. You hang the lota and let it go into the water well. It touches water, and then you make it like four times you move. So the upper part of the water is a little bit clean, and go deep, and then you bring out nice and cool drinking water. Part 2: The Satguru as the Lota That time, you could drink the well water without anything, and now all is polluted. Understand me? This loṭā is tightened here from the neck and goes down, and then you are pulling it up and down, and then it brings, cleans the water, and then brings the so-called good water. This you also do when you are going with the boat somewhere in the middle of the ocean and you want to bring the good, clean, nice sea water from the bottom. So the poem said: "Satguru aisā kīye jaise loṭhā or dūr dorī,"—'dorī' is the rope or string, and this is loṭhā—"Satguru aisā kīye jaise loṭhā or dūr galā bandāī apnā," even he lets his throat be tightened and hangs in, "or nīr pilāī jakol," and gives you good water, even by cleaning it. So Gurudev is that one. Even for the sake of the disciples, he is ready to die. Then he is a Satguru. But if the disciple doesn’t understand, then the rope will break, the loṭā will be there, and you go thirsty as you came. Hari Om Tāraṣāṭ. Now, our Svābhika Jātānsī, what is your song? Nādarūpa Parabrahma, Nādarūpa Parabrahma. See, Guru says, "Aisā Merā Satguru Andar Bole Le’o." Now we will speak in Yogīś. This came to us from the event which happened ten thousand plus years back. You have heard the story many, many, many times. It was God Rāma who was incarnated on this planet to bring justice, to bring the light, to bring the Dharma back to its proper track. But actually, Dīvālī, or the celebration of the light, started from the time when the creation was made. God is light, and from the time of creation, the struggle between light and darkness has been going on. Any time when the darkness was attempting to become too strong and was dangerous, so that it would destroy the light, then God incarnated as the avatar. Who is God? They are light creations; they are the high-level consciences which are coming from Brahmaloka, Śivaloka, Ānandaloka, to this planet to help us who are stuck in the worldly life. Swami Jaswajpurījī nicely said before that here is such a beautiful atmosphere in the ashram now at this moment. And what is it, this beautiful atmosphere? It is the light—the light of different dimensions, the light of different vibrations, the light which is not visible to the eyes. God is light, and we all are light. Light is within every one of us, and that which is within us is actually we. We are that one. In Satya Yuga, there was light celebration every day. All planets were alight because the people who were living at that time had knowledge. They had knowledge of who they are. They had knowledge of why they came to this worldly planet known as Mother Earth. And through time, the darkness—what is darkness? It’s ignorance. Out of ignorance come all the troubles which we have today and which they had through time. Ignorance brings attachment, attachment brings fear, fear brings aggression, and so on, and so on. So in Satya Yuga, when all people were realized, everywhere was light. So Dīvālī was there all the time. And as time was passing—Dvāpar Yuga, Tretā Yuga—ego was growing, ignorance was growing, darkness was growing. So the God incarnations, avatars, were coming from time to time to bring light or to support the light and help the people who are longing to come back to that prime or original light. Nowadays, in the middle of the Kali Yuga, such bubbles or places where the light is strong, where light is present, are not so many anymore. So from the time when light was everywhere, we came to the time when the light is just in some spots. India surely is one of such spots. But even here, now the color is not pure anymore; it has become a mixture of many things. But surely, this place—Jadan Ashram, Kailash Ashram, Kathu Ashram, Nepal Ashram, and so on, as well as all ashrams and places where the saints, where the holy people of this time are living—are such places. We can call this a bubble of light. Swamiji is calling this a ship of the satsaṅg. And that ship will bring us from one shore to the other shore, over the sea of ignorance, over the sea of suffering. God Rāma was, Jesus Christ was, Lord Kṛṣṇa was. They were coming, and as per the physical laws of this planet, they were going. And what they had done in the period of that time of their life when they were created or incarnated on this planet, they were showing to the people how we should live, what we should do to come back to our original light, God. They were living their life as normal humans. With their examples, they were showing, they were guiding people. And as we know from the history books, they did not have an easy life. They had a very, very hard life. I just yesterday heard that Lord Kṛṣṇa was, during his time, completely recognized or understood as a God incarnation only by a few people. So such a boat—they have their guides, captain we can say, teacher we can say, our guru we can say—and we are on such a boat. We are in such a bubble of the light, and we have a guide. We have our beloved Paramahaṁsa Swāmī Maishanpurījī as our teacher, because whatever we are doing in life, in the state as we are, we are lost. We are lost in our ignorance, in our fears, emotions, physical limitations, societies which are guiding as they are guiding. And without a Master, without a Sadguru, there is no way out of darkness, out of ignorance. There is no way out. Whatever we try, it is like a blind person trying to come out of a deep, deep forest. But a master, a Gurudev, is that one who personally walked that way. In some of his previous incarnations, he got deep knowledge of the forest of life, of the dangers of life, and he comes again and again together with us to play this līlā, that we come from these worldly levels to the divine levels, to higher levels, to achieve self-realization, ātmajñāna, God-realization, Brahmajñāna, and to merge in the divine light again, or to come, as He is coming, back to help those who forgot who they are, why they came here, and what is the purpose of their life. So, Lord Kṛṣṇa, Lord Rāma, Jesus Christ, Buddha Bhagavān, they were. And when they were, they were what? They were teachers, they were guides, they were gurus. And Lord God Rāma of our hearts is here. We should just try to follow his words, try to develop unbreakable trust that whatever Gurudev is doing is for our good. And this is, if we develop this, if we realize this, very strong. As Swami Jasashpurījī nicely said, if we develop our spirituality as the core of our life, as everything of our life, and on that we add the worldly activities, whatever they are, we are there. Because we are connected with the light, with the unlimited source of light. And that light will guide us and will come from shore to other shore to come to God and finish our circle of 8.4 millions, in which we are suffering for the yugas, yugas, ages and ages. I would like to thank our beloved Gurudev that he took the trouble and came with us to this planet, to this level, and is ready to suffer for us, is ready to work for us day and night without stopping, without tiredness, ignoring sicknesses, ignoring the time. The time Jack lacks, which he has when he travels, giving again and again and again knowledge, repeating again and again that knowledge which he already gave and we forgot. So we love Gurudev. Thank you very much for being with us, and for me, Dīvālī is celebration to Dī. And with this, I would like to stop. Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai! Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai! Śrī Alak Purījī Siddhapīṭh Paramparā Kī Jai, Miśra Guru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁsa Maheśvara Ānandjī Gurudeva Kī Jai, Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Svāmī Jasāj Purī Mahārāja Kī Jai, Hari Om Praṇāma Svāmijī. Hari Om, dear friends here in Jhadan, and very happy to greet you all around the world. Dear brothers and sisters, we have had so many beautiful speeches, so much love, so much wisdom, so much jñāna and bhakti since yesterday. It is like a showering of nectar upon all of us, and I hope that you are with us and stay with us in these hours in this precious time; we never know what happens tomorrow. So enjoy the present moment. We heard so many things about this festival, and I just want to tell you a little bit about how Indian people are celebrating these festivals. We, in our countries, in a way, lost the connection to God. We need gurus and other holy persons from other countries to speak about the deep relation, to speak about our true nature, to speak about the light in us. We lost the knowledge, and we lost the connection with nature, because from nature you can get every knowledge. You get light and light. Even in the night, you get the light because God is in nature. And Indians, God is not far away from them. God is living in them and with them. I didn’t meet any Indian house where there was not an altar, at least one altar. And every family member can even have another godhead as Iṣṭadevatā. So God is included in their life. In my childhood, many people went to church, at least on Sunday. Out of all my friends, I don’t know one person going to church on Sunday. So we lost the relation to our civilization, our deep religious knowledge, which is actually everywhere. And that is one of the things for which we have to be very thankful to Swāmījī also, to remind us of our traditions. Go into your traditions also. God is everywhere. He’s in the church, he’s in a mosque, he’s in the temple, he’s in a satsaṅg, he’s everywhere. And one of the things that is so important in India, you know, I’m in the hospital and I am surrounded by Indians, which is very... I learn a lot out of them, and one thing is that it’s a little bit difficult to work with them because every two weeks there is a festival, you know. First is a festival, Gaṇeśa Pūjā, and then is Holī, and then comes Rāma Rāma Sā, Dīvālī, and Kṛṣṇa’s birthday. So, actually, all the time there is something, and they are really going to this; they are celebrating this. And, you know, it doesn’t matter how the story of these festivals is, one thing is always there. There is no festival, as I know, where evil is the winner over good. And in all festivals, the good is the winner over the evil. And that is a message, the wonderful message of all the festivals: the light is always a winner, and the darkness is destroyed through the light. And that is a message that inside of us is this light, and it doesn’t matter which kind of darkness. Doesn’t matter which kind of karma, doesn’t matter which kind of qualities, doesn’t matter which kind of destiny you have, the light is always there. And it is a question where you focus, you know? If we have a paper and one side, half side is black down, and up is white. There are you focusing on which side? On the black one or on the white side? And this is what Swāmījī and spiritual teachers—it doesn’t matter from which confession and which side—tells us: look to the white side. Look to the light side and try to develop this. And you know, this is not just a word which I’m telling you. This is a personal experience I have in my life. I learned very much from my experiences, especially from difficult experiences, sufferings, etc. And one time in my life, it may be 30 years ago, I realized one thing. It was a time where I had a lot of suffering, a lot. And then I had, you know, when you are in yog nidrā, for instance, this is a level which is not really subconscious, and you are not in the normal state of consciousness. And my experience is often that I realize or I see some things during the Yajñidra. And during this state of light meditation, you can say, one picture came to me. And the picture was like this, that there is a room, two rooms actually, with a door in the middle. And I am sitting near the door. And one side was completely dark, completely, completely. And the other side was a room full of light. And I was sitting on the door, but on the dark side. And then I realized that it’s up to me to look into the room with the light. And it’s up to me to stand up and go there. And from this time on, dear brothers and sisters, I decided to go just in this direction of the light. So it’s our personal decision, believe me this, which side you want to go. You can stay in the darkness, you can complain, but you are not forced to. You can be angry the whole day, you can cry the whole day, but you are not forced to. You can go to the light side and try to understand why this happened. Try to trust, try to pray, and go on this light side. And then everything is easier. Everything is better. And from this time on, I changed, I think. And I know it is up to us which decision we are taking. Actually, I wanted to tell you something about how Indians are celebrating, my most beautiful, how to say, local Indian Dīvālī. I had actually one time in Jodhpur, and it was actually the time when holy Gurujī was there, and you know. And everywhere, in all houses, they have the dīpaks, this small, made of clay now, and the days before, they made it out of dough. I was one time in the Himalayas, and there was Dīvālī, and they didn’t have these clay pots. So I asked Swamiji, "Swamiji, I want to make some dīpaks somewhere, but they don’t have this stuff." And then he told me, "You just take a dough, like you make for chapati, just wheat flour and water." You make a dough, and you make the form like this. You dry it, and then you put ghee or oil inside, and you make it with cotton. So, you know, the beautiful thing also, what we can so much learn from Swāmījī, is that he’s grown up in the middle of God’s creation, and out of this you get such a deep knowledge which you never can get out of books. And so, because, uh, who knows to make out of a dough for a candle, for a light. And under just that, in this time in Jodhpur, it was by the... because Holy Gurū, she was in the hospital, and I saw that before every house they have hundreds of candles, and they make decorations like we make in Europe also at Christmas time, but they had everywhere these small, small lights, and that was wonderful. And also they make something, and that was really great. They make Rām Līlā, you know, the story. You know, that India has many historical epics, and so it was in the stadium, which is normally a football place. It was a very huge place, and they were playing the story of when Rāma came and he killed Rāvaṇa. And it was very interesting because they made, I think, a ten-meter-high statue of Rāvaṇa, and he was also with some other one beside him, also some Rākṣasa, but it was huge, you know, not little and small like... This, or maybe 15 meters. And the whole thing didn’t take so long, because the high point of the whole thing was that when Rāma arrived, the darkness, meaning the āsurī śaktis in the form of Rāvaṇa, were destroyed. And so, Rāma, you will not believe, he came in a jeep. Yes? He came in the middle, you know, thousands of people around, these huge devils in the middle, and then Rāma came and then they were shooting, you know, on the Rāvaṇa statue, and then everything was exploding. And all people, they are so happy, you know, and that was the whole thing, actually, and after they went home. But what I found out of this is that in our country, I just say in our countries, we are always calm and cool. But you know, it’s good to have some fire inside. No, Swamiji yesterday he said of so much fire, and one fire, you know, is the fire of joy. I don’t know what is in Hindi, but I would add this to your Agnis, the fire of joy. So in all festivals in India, you have this fire of joy. And when I saw this during Dīvālī, I said, "See, this is the thing that we are missing." We lost also our ability to express joy, you know, to laugh and to scream, but out of joy. So maybe we should also introduce Rām Līlā in Ljubljana or in Zagreb or somewhere, you know, and then we’ll check, and we will come. In the newspaper, actually, and it’s great, and everybody was happy, really. So I see that is one. What I wanted to add is that joy is there in all these festivals, and it’s a beautiful time. Yeah, that’s it. What I wanted a little bit to tell you is that these festivals of light remind us to take decisions to where the joy, to that happiness; it is our decision, and Swāmījī, he is who is guiding us, or Gurudev is guiding us towards this joy. And I hope you will have a joyful day. I wish you a joyful week, joyful month, joyful year, and I hope I meet you joyfully another time. Sudīpna Rāmbhagavān. Joyful life, of course. Well, you have heard many things this morning from Jasrā jī, from Yogeś jī, from Śānti jī. And it’s a good, always joyful end, a happy end, as Śāntī said. The story she told about Rāvaṇa’s statue, who knows how many days or months it was prepared. Beautiful height, about 15 meters high, very high, and dress and everything. It was a very artistic way done, and what they put inside were some explosives. This cracker, what you have in some festivals, you know. Dr. Gulab Kothārījī said, "It’s a pity, Swāmījī, you should have taken them on dantes to Jaipur market evening." It is something beautiful, so like when one goes to Europe, in big cities like Vienna or Prague or Zagreb or Budapest, the center of the cities, you see the beautiful lighting. But what in Jaipur, or Jodhpur, or Delhi, in Mumbai, I think what I saw in Europe is only 10% of that other. The joy is everywhere. Also, in Christmas, in India, there is a lot of decoration in the cities and hotels. Okay, so it took a long time to create this statue. It is beautiful, nice, everyone likes it, and makes photos. But inside are explosives, and these are the negative qualities. And when the one arrow of the God Rāma, it means the Gyāna Śabda. As Lala Nanājī said, Kya tum jaano haal hamārā mere sadguru mariyā? Tīr, that arrow. And you know, weeks or months of long work, just with one arrow, everything is exploded. So, long, long times of work, only one negative quality in us or in someone can destroy many things. But still, at the end, the victory is God Rāma’s. So it is a victory of the Bhaktas, of God, of the truth. Now, I wish you a very good appetite, and thank you to you and all our many other brothers and sisters around the world who helped to create our hospital here. It is a hospital already in function. There are few doctors, and step by step it is coming into function. Of course, we do not have so much equipment and so many expert doctors because it is a small, remote area, a village. And we hope that some volunteer or doctors who would like to come for five months, six months, to stay here and work also a little bit in the hospital, we will appreciate it if anybody knows. After 4 o’clock, and I wish you a very good evening. At 7:30, there will be a webcast again. Thank you. Bless you. Deep Nayan Bhagavān Kī Jai.