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We are still celebrating Diwali, the incarnation of Mahāprabhujī. I thought we might now go a little deeper into Mahāprabhujī’s teaching, which for us is also Swāmījī’s teaching. Our way is the way to oneness. Our way is the way to non-duality, called Advaita. Yet we live in a world of duality, and our minds are quite influenced by it. We are often unaware of how peculiar this must appear from the viewpoint of a saint who has realized that oneness. There is a small story. A man was walking and came upon a shepherd with a flock of sheep. He became interested and asked the shepherd, "I’m interested in your sheep; may I ask a few questions? You walk with them around. How many kilometers do they walk per day?" The shepherd replied, "Do you mean the white ones or the black ones?" The man said, "Okay, the white ones." "About five or six kilometers a day," said the shepherd. "And the black ones?" "About the same." "Tell me, how much do they eat per day, how much grass?" "Do you mean the white ones or the black ones?" "The white ones." "About two kilograms. And the black ones? The same." "And how much wool do they give in a year?" "Do you mean the white ones or the black ones?" "The white ones." "About three kilos. And the black ones? The same." The man then said, "Please, you always answer my questions in such a strange way, distinguishing between the white and the black ones. Why do you do that?" The shepherd answered, "But that’s only natural—because the white ones belong to me." "Aha, and the black ones?" "They, too." One could call this the laughter of an enlightened one, seeing how we, in reality, think and act. Of course, this way of thinking creates real problems. This is the point I want to speak about a little: the different religions, and how our yoga path is situated among these spiritual paths. In the beginning, when people come to yoga, they often understand it as a physical workout—a common teaching with many styles. When they come to us and learn that yoga is actually a spiritual path, confusions arise. What does it really mean? Sometimes people tell me they are a little afraid of spirituality because they think, "Aha, so yoga is actually a religion. If I start practicing yoga, in the end I have to give up my religion and change." Are we clear ourselves on this point? Do we see it as a weak point, or as something we can explain very clearly? I sometimes see it in subtle things. Traveling around, I see many ashrams, not only here but abroad, and you would be astonished how different they look. Some of our ashrams have the charm of a garage—plain, with nothing. When I ask why, the answer is, "So everyone should feel at home here." But I don’t feel at home there. I had a similar experience in India visiting the beautiful Lotus Temple in Delhi. The whole building is like a big lotus; it is a temple of the Bahá’í religion. When I went inside, I was a little astonished. There were benches similar to a church, but in front there was nothing; the center was empty. I asked why it was like this, and they said, "We want everyone to feel welcome here, from every path, every religion." But I felt only emptiness. I give you an opposite example. In America, I was in Atlanta, a rural area in the south that is very Christian, mostly Baptist. There are also Hindus there, and a Hindu temple. When I came to their ashram for a program, it was a most successful program. They managed to bring more people together than in our main ashram in Washington, and the atmosphere was really enthusiastic. When the satsaṅg finished, they simply didn’t want to go. I looked at how they had decorated the ashram: there was a very clear altar with pictures on the wall, open, with pictures of Kṛṣṇa, Rāmakṛṣṇa, Devpurījī, and Swāmījī all around in wonderful decoration. I asked them, "Don’t you have problems?" "No, we don’t have any problems." This is a little sign of the inner attitude. I don’t say it to criticize anyone, just to give a hint. It very much depends on our inner clarity. When we inside are really clear, we don’t need to go into a defensive position. Now, let us look at this point a little. What is Mahāprabhujī’s teaching? I give three examples from the Līlā Amṛt. The first is a story about a blind Muslim boy. A boy had become blind, and they brought him to Mahāprabhujī. They were Muslims and asked, "Mahāprabhujī, in the hour of need we trust in your loving kindness. Please grant sight to the eyes of my nephew. Although we are Muslim, I am sure you won’t turn us away." Now listen to Mahāprabhujī’s answer: "The kingdom of God knows no distinction of caste, race, or religion. Kasta, rasa, nebo náboženství. To me, you are one of God’s children. Pro mě, jste jedním z božích dětí. It doesn’t matter if you are Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Christian, or Jew. Je jedno, nezáleží na tom, jestli jste Muslim, Hinduista, Christian, Jainista, nebo Žid." Then came a very strong test. He said, "You take the juice of the ankara plant and put that in his eye." Every Indian knows the ankara plant is extremely poisonous and would surely destroy the eye. But this man had such faith in Mahāprabhujī that he straight away did it, and the boy opened his eyes. It was a test; it was not the juice which opened the eyes but the divine power of Mahāprabhujī. This was just a test to see if he really had faith. So it doesn’t matter if he is a Muslim, but it matters if he is a Bhakta. It matters if he has faith. Karim Baksh was at a loss to find words to praise Mahāprabhujī, and this incident afterwards attracted many devotees among the Muslims to Mahāprabhujī. There is another event which is even more clear. Pushkar is a place where Hindus and Muslims have places of worship very close together, so they cannot avoid meeting each other. Therefore, when there is discord, it is there. Once there was a struggle between them, but they both had faith in Mahāprabhujī and asked him to mediate. What did he tell them? "Brothers, what turbulence have you brought here? Your quarrel is senseless." Remember how we were laughing about the shepherd? Now we have it here in practice. Mahāprabhujī is here asked, "Are you for white or for black?" "Your quarrel is senseless. You work under a big mistake if you think that you are enemies just because you follow different religions. You must learn instead to love one another like brothers, because we are all children of the one divine Father. God lives in the heart of all living beings. Doesn’t matter if you are Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Christian, or Jew. If you truly practice your faith, then you will come to God by either route. If you truly practice your faith, then you will reach God on this way or on that way." Let us think on Mahāprabhujī’s Mauna Satsaṅg. Mahāprabhujī said, "In this mudrā," and we have the picture of him. Mentally, he gave teachings to different groups belonging to different castes, rich and poor, and followers of different paths. A následovníkům různých cest, různých směrů. Now, let us see what he was teaching to the different religions. A teď se dívejte, co učila různá náboženství. The message for the Christians. Poselství pro křesťany. "The message of Jesus Christ is true. Poselství Ježíše Krista je pravdivé. The path of service and forgiveness is your liberation. Follow his example." The message to the Sikhs: "Guru Nānak was a divine incarnation. The ship of His name will carry you across the ocean of the world. Always chant his name. Vždycky zpívejte jeho jméno." The message to the Muslims. Poselství k muslimům. "Allah is God. Allah je Bůh. He alone exists in the many names and forms. On jediný existuje v mnoha podobách a jménech. He alone lives in the heart of all beings. Jediný on žije v srdcích všech bytostí. Therefore, harm no one. Proto nikomu neubližujte. Never cause pain to any being, and pray to the Lord." The message to the Parsis, or Zoroastrians, a very old religion: "Honor of fire means honor of all forms. Fire burns everything. Fire, by its very nature, transforms everything into fire. In the same way, Gurudev burns the ignorance of the disciple in the fire of self-knowledge." And the message to the Buddhists: "Keep the rules of Buddhism and be true followers of Buddha. That is your liberation." I think it’s more than clear. So, which religion is now real, true? Each religion. The oneness and the acceptance of all religions. Yet there is a problem. Religions have developed in different parts of the world at different times in history, so definitely they are different. Different buildings like temples, churches, mosques; different prayers; different rules for the followers; different festivals during the year. On this level, you find only differences. So where to find the oneness? Another problem is that religions have a history. At the origin of the religions, they were all saints. What do you think would happen if Buddha met with Jesus, with Mahāprabhujī, with Rāma, with Mohammed? I guess they would be extremely happy and embrace each other, brother. But what about their followers? They do have problems; it is not so easy to embrace each other. The problem is that in history, often the essence got lost. At the origin, everything was clear. But then, if in history there are not always enlightened saints who can revive the tradition, fill it with life again, and adapt it to the necessity of the present time, then religions tend to become stiff and dogmatic. Everyone has to believe certain things, but no one knows anymore why. Everyone has to follow certain rules, and no one knows anymore what’s the background. Another small story. In a temple, they always did worship. Before the prayer, they put the prasāda there, but often the prasāda disappeared. They observed a cat that always came at the right time and stole it. Finally, the master said, "Okay, we have to do something. Bind the cat at the pole before the prayer, and after the prayer you can let it free again." The problem was solved. The cat could be present but couldn’t steal the prasāda, and everyone knew: before the prayer, the cat has to be bound to the pole. After some time, the guru left the body. Still they were binding the cat to the pole. Then the cat also passed away. But everyone knew, of course, before the prayer a cat has to be bound to a pole. Unfortunately, there was no cat. So they were searching to find a cat, because they had to bind one to the pole; otherwise, they couldn’t do a successful prayer. You understand? How things developed in history? What made a lot of sense in the beginning suddenly becomes an empty ritual. So, most important is that there is always a saint who understands the essence. If this is not the case, then deformations can happen, and fanaticism can come. That is actually a problem of Bhakti Yoga. In Bhakti Yoga, you have your Iṣṭadeva, your chosen God. All your love goes to this chosen God. This God is for you everything. But how easily comes the next thought: the other gods are not true gods, that this God, which is for you everything, is actually the only God, and everyone should follow this God. A ten Bůh, který pro vás je vším, je ten jediný pravý a všichni by měli věřit jenom v něj. This is when the real problems start. No, a tady začínají skutečné problémy. The idea of converting someone from one path to another path. Ten nápad konvertovat někoho z jiné cesty na vaší cestu. From one God to the other God. Od jednoho Boha k jinému Bohu. And when this becomes an official policy, then actually the spirituality is lost. Ideas of power mix in, and ideas of possession and money. Then the different religions become like political parties fighting to have more members than the others. Then the real problems are there, which can lead even to wars. I heard Swāmījī saying once that most probably more people have been killed in the name of God than for other purposes. So here now, Mahāprabhujī’s teaching is such a relief: accept each other, tolerate each other, love each other. That is Mahāprabhujī’s teaching, and that is also Swāmījī’s teaching. I remember when Swāmījī was asked, "Swāmījī, what do you think about Jesus?" Swāmījī answered very relaxed and said, "Jesus is my colleague." That’s a nice way of putting it. We must know where our path is, but we should respect and tolerate every path. Now, where exactly is our path? Is yoga really a religion, maybe? Or is it closely related to this or that religion? This is a point which is not so easy. We heard yesterday a lecture from Holī Gurujī. In this lecture he gave a quite important hint. Holī Gurujī said, "In India today, there are 2,350 different religions and sects." Each has its own rituals and practices. But only a discriminating person, a person with viveka, can recognize the right way. And then he quotes, "Religions compete among each other for first place. But only that religion which is beyond religions leads to God." That’s interesting: that religion which is beyond the religions. So what would be that religion? Let me quote Swāmījī. Swāmījī says very clearly, and these are exactly Swāmījī’s words that I’m saying: "Yoga is not a religion. Yoga is also not part of any religion." That means it is also not part of Hinduism, as many think. "But yoga is the essence of every religion." Yes, this religion beyond the religions, that is actually yoga. That is our path. That is Mahāprabhujī’s teaching. So now, how to understand that? When I lived in India, I was very interested in this question. I lived in the ashram and built up a library there. I was very concerned to have each and every religion represented. That was one reason I went, for example, to the Bahá’í temple to buy some books for our library. I was very concerned to have every path, every master represented. So when you come to Jhadan, you really can study that. Naturally, I also looked in the books and studied a little myself. It became like a hobby to study these different paths, these different religions. I tried to find out not what is different—that’s easy—but what are the underlying, uniting principles. I came to certain results. When we want to do such a study to understand the oneness of the religions, we have to make an important distinction between two aspects of every religion: the exoteric and the esoteric aspect. Exoteric means the outer appearance. Esoteric means the inner essence. On the outer, exoteric level, there are so many differences. But when you look more carefully, you will find in every religion groups which explain their own path in a different way. For example, within the Muslims, these are the Sufīs. First of all, this inner essence is known only to those who have realized it. So practically, it means to go searching for the enlightened saints and their traditions within every religious path, because somewhere the traditions are always alive. Unfortunately, sometimes these are minorities that are persecuted by the official representatives of the same religion, and sometimes they are very easily accepted. What I found is that certain principles appear in all these esoteric teachings. The first is: there is only one God. The second is: you find God inside, not outside in the world. Let me give an example, and you might be astonished from whom I’m quoting now—from Jesus. This is in the Gospel of Luke. When he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, A pak se ho ptali, kdy má přijít království nebeské. A on jim odpověděl a řekl, "Království Boží nikde nespatříte, i kdyby vám někdo říkal, ’Tam se podívej,’ nebo ’Tu se podívej.’" You see, he was an enlightened saint. He knew the truth, and he spoke it. The kingdom of God is inside; that means God is inside. The esoteric teaching is always the teaching to search for the divine within ourselves. It’s not so much about rituals and traveling here and there, pilgrimages. They all have their place and can inspire us and help us, but essentially, the path to God is the path inside. The main technique to search is called contemplation or meditation, everywhere. And everywhere, the name of God is respected. What is it for us? Mantra. Mantras are used in every spiritual path. Very often they have something similar to our mālā. They have malas with 108, or, for example, the Muslims have 99 plus 1, where the 1 is Allāh. The Christians have the rosary, which has 54, half of 108. From the Sikhs, Swāmījī once got a wonderful mala from cotton. It’s astonishing how even in the details there are similarities. But the name of the Lord is the main technique to achieve higher consciousness. This is known and used everywhere. In these esoteric teachings, they are always very much aware of the necessity of a guru, the guru-disciple relationship, and the guru paramparā, the tradition of the gurus. What Swāmījī always says: no one can be a guru without having a guru. Open any good Buddhist book, for example. You will always find in the beginning or at the end that the author explains about his masters. In one Buddhist book written by an enlightened master, he gave the title "The Worlds of My Perfect Teacher," meaning, "I did nothing; I only wrote down what my master told me." Such humbleness is a sign of true spirituality. Every Sufi tradition from the Muslims is very eager to prove that their guru tradition goes back to Muḥammad. Oni velice pečlivě dokazují, že jejich tradice sahá až k Mohamedovi. So these are some uniting principles on the esoteric aspect of every religion. A takže v tom esoterickém aspektu každého náboženství jsou tyhle ty sjednocující prvky. Now, in some religions, these esoteric aspects are more hidden. This is specially valid for the three main Western religions. We have three religions in the West. The oldest is the Jewish religion. The second, building on this, is Christianity; the Jewish scripture, the Torah, is part of the Bible. And again building on that are the Muslims. You might be astonished how many chapters in the Koran are about Jesus and Mary. Jesus is well known, only he is seen as a prophet and not as the Son of God. In the Jewish religion, for example, you have the teaching of the Kabbalah. And around 1600-1700, there was a very strong wave of gurus called Hasidism. The first of them was called Baal Shem Tov. I read some books about them and their stories, and to tell you, this is exactly Swāmījī’s teaching. If I have here now this book which is being sold here—how is the title? From Darkness to Light—this book is available. Whoever wants can buy it. Or, read these stories of the Chassidic masters; you will be astonished. It is the same teaching, the same essence. In Christianity also, the very famous Master Eckhart and his sermons, which you can buy in books, are sometimes like Jñāna Yoga. And very famous, Francis of Assisi, and many others, nuns and so on, who were in the monasteries and really meditating deeply. And you know, Father David, a friend of Swāmījī, a high representative of the Catholic Church, yet so open-minded. And as I said, in Islam, this is actually the Sufīs. And the Sufis, these are true yogīs. One of my very first yoga classes was with Sufis. I went there regularly and I really enjoyed their classes. I even remember we did Yoga Nidrā there. So the essential teaching is everywhere the same. Because there is only one essence, there is only one truth. No one can change that. In the Eastern religions, the similarities are, or let’s say the esoteric teaching is more open. It is not so much hidden or suppressed. For example, in these religions also, the law of karma is generally accepted. You have it also in the Bible. When Jesus says, "As you sow, so you will reap," that is the law of karma. But it is not so much, let us say, official policy of the church. Now, the Eastern religions would be Hinduism, Sikhism—which goes back to Guru Nānak—and Jainism, which is said to be also a very ancient tradition but mostly known for its last great guru, Mahāvīr. He was a contemporary of Buddha. So Buddhism is also one of these religions. Mahāvīr and Buddha actually knew each other. They lived about two and a half thousand years ago. So in these religions, the esoteric aspect is more obvious. But even there, it somehow needs explanation. It is not so much that it is suppressed, but to understand what is really the essence, you need again the teaching of a master. Now, Mahāprabhujī was such a master. How did he teach? Mahāprabhujī shows a very popular form. He did not write thick books for philosophers and intellectuals. His teaching is in a very popular form in the bhajans. So when we want now to understand our path, we have to look in our bhajans. And of course, in the Līlā Amṛt and in the bhajans, you will find most bhajans address Hindus. But when you carefully look, they are not Hindu bhajans. They are addressing them, picking up what they believe, but often in a very challenging way, saying, "Okay, you can go for a pilgrimage, you can bathe in the holy rivers, you can go to the temples, you can do the fasts, you can do the almsgivings." And then comes a big "but" always: but all that will not bring you to liberation. So now you, as a Hindu, hear that. It is not really a reconfirmation for that which you are doing all the time. That is an awakening call: go deeper. Think about what you are actually doing. And then comes the "but": but you need a guru who explains the essence. What does it really mean? What are the traditional beliefs also of the Hindus? But in fact, we must be clear: not all bhajans actually address Hindus. We have also bhajans addressing Muslims. Who knows the bhajan "Ha-fakīrī"? Fakīr is a term used for the sādhus in Islam. And very clear, the bhajan: "Then comes Mecca Medina," comes in the next verse. So this is a bhajan actually directly addressing the Muslims, speaking about Allāh. Just think on this story, which I read from the Līlā Amṛt, how Mahāprabhujī spoke to the Hindus and spoke to the Muslims. And because of that, he was respected by both of them. He was respected by all religions because, remember, in the Mauna Satsaṅg, he had people sitting there from all the different paths, all the different religions. They were all gathered around him. You see, Mahāprabhujī was such a saint. He radiated this love and this wisdom. He did not need to hide anything. But we have to realize what is really the essence. And then also we can contribute to the oneness, as Swāmījī always tries now with these inter-religious prayers, always trying to bring people together from different religions for the same aim. Okay, let me try to go a little bit deeper so that we understand now what is actually really the difference between the exoteric and esoteric teaching. As we said, there is an essence, but to understand the essence, you need a master who explains it to you. I will give you two examples: one from the Muslims and one from the Hindus. The Muslims have five rules. When you want to become a Muslim, you have to accept these five rules. The first is that you declare Allāh is God and Mohammed is a prophet. Then, one rule is five prayers per day. How many do we do? I think we are not so good Muslims. We have, at most, two, usually. And I guess many of us do not have even these two prayers regularly. So we can learn something from them. Even if it is not long, but five times per day to stop and think of God. And wherever they are, they have to turn then to Mecca. They have to think in which direction Mecca is. That is a very beautiful rule. Then, one is the fasting month, the Ramaḍān. You see, they also have a kind of tapasyā in their teaching, which we have from Swāmījī as a fasting day per week and the full moon day. Then, almsgiving, certain donations to give, is also a part. And the fifth rule is called the Ḥajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. And it is said, once in a life, every Muslim should do that. So far, everything is clear. It is easy to become a Muslim. But now, to follow that path and to understand it is not so easy. And now the Sufi master will come and start questioning this a little bit. Because the point is not that we follow some rules, but that we have an aim: God-realization. Let us take the example of this yātrā, this pilgrimage. The rule is, once in a lifetime, one should do that. Now, one can ask, actually, why only once? Would it not be better to say, let us say, every ten years? Or maybe even better to say, as often as possible, maybe every year? Why is this rule only once in a lifetime? Now we have to think a little bit. What does it mean, the pilgrimage there? Mecca, that is the place of God. So you do the pilgrimage to the place of God, to meet God. That is the aim of our spiritual path, to meet God. What we call darśan, what we call self-realization or God-realization. Now the common understanding is that you take holidays and you walk with your feet over the earth to this place where there is a stone, the Kaaba. It is definitely a great experience to do such a pilgrimage among thousands or millions of people who do the same. But will this really bring us to the aim of God-realization? So now the Sufi master will explain: God is not there. God is here, inside. Remember, the esoteric teaching says, "Search God inside." God is in your heart. Do the pilgrimage inside. Meditate on God. Repeat the name of God. Realize God. Realize God there where He is, inside. So now, when you reach the aim and you really realize God inside, how often do you need to repeat that? Not possible, not necessary. Like in Vedānta, we have the symbol of the rope and the snake. You go in the evening, and you are scared. Suddenly, you see a snake on the ground. And you observe it; it is not moving, so carefully you go closer. And you realize, oh, it is only a rope, it is not a snake. So now you know. How often more do you need to know? How can you repeat the process of knowing? Once you know, you know. There is no second time. You see, suddenly it makes a lot of sense to say, once in life you have to do the pilgrimage, but the real pilgrimage, not that on feet, but that in our heart. That is how the Sufi master will explain it to you. And next, he will give you the right mantra and the right meditation technique to do it. And then suddenly it becomes very clear and very practical. And suddenly, it is yoga. What started as Islam, suddenly it is yoga. Now, let us take the other example from the Hindus. They also have very clear rules to visit the temples and to worship at home, to go to the holy places, to the pilgrimage. We have this one bhajan, "Guru Charanam," I think it is 64 main places of pilgrimage. And one important part of the Hindu belief is also the Kumbh Melā: to bathe in the holy rivers. At the time of the Kumbh Melā, at that time when all three holy rivers are flowing—Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī—and it is known that two of them are flowing all the time, but the Sarasvatī is like a secret underground river which is flowing only rarely, only when there are certain planetary constellations. And they occur actually every twelve years. So therefore, every 12 years, these huge Kumbha Melas, where millions of people come together, and it is very beautiful. It is such a spiritual atmosphere. It is so uplifting to be among millions of people for a spiritual aim. When I was there, there were 30 million people. In fact, that is the greatest spiritual festival in the world. Now, why are they doing this? Because the Hindu belief is, when you are bathed now at this time and this place, and this right constellation is there, and all three rivers are flowing, and this place where they meet, which is called Saṅgam, then all your sins will be washed away. Or in yoga terminology, we would say you are free from your karmas. So far, so good. Now again, let us think a little bit with a critical mind. How would that work? When we go into water and wash our body, now our sins are gone. Sins means karma. So what is karma? Is it some dirt here on our skin, which we can just wash away? Karma, this is a fine vibration in our subtle bodies, which always goes with us. It is not something physical which you can just wash away, so how should that work? So now again, you need a master to explain the essence. And I happen to know one called Swāmī Maheśvarānanda, and he wrote a nice book about the chakras. And in this book, for example, he very clearly explains—I do not have it here now—you see, all these scriptures have different levels of understanding: a surface level and a deeper, real meaning. So Swāmījī will now explain that. These three rivers you find outside, yes? But you find the same inside. That is the principle of esoteric. Whatever is outside, the same you find inside. Modern science explores everything outside. And the yogīs, in thousands of years, know already because they explore the same thing inside. As there is moon and stars in the sky, we have moon and sun inside. How do we call that? Iḍā and Piṅgalā, exactly. The moon system and the sun system. So now, as we have three holy rivers outside—Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī—we have also three holy rivers inside: Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumnā. Now, it was said two of them always flow. They are always active, and this is Iḍā and Piṅgalā. Though one is more active, the other is less, it is changing. But Suṣumnā is not always active. Iḍā and Piṅgalā are also, you can say, the energy of the day and the night, so Suṣumnā becomes only active when these two energies are in harmony. Which happens naturally two times per day. That means the time of twilight when the night and day energy are just in harmony: the time of the sunrise and the time of the sunset. And therefore, these are the best times for meditation. As Swāmījī used to say, about two hours before sunrise till one hour after, these three hours are the best time for meditation. And one hour before sunset until half an hour after sunset, these one and a half hours are also a good time in the evening. But of course we know that through yoga exercises, and specifically through the prāṇāyāma, we can balance Iḍā and Piṅgalā and, let us say from our side, activate Suṣumnā. So now it was said that this Kumbh Melā happens every 12 years because the Sarasvatī is flowing and is active only every 12 years. So now the nāḍīs in us, they actually join every twelve hours. Because in the morning and in the evening, so around every 12 hours only, then is Suṣumnā active. So now we have to search for the Saṅgam. Where is the Saṅgam? The place where these three rivers meet. And this is the Ājñā Chakra. It is also called Trikuṭī. And actually, there is another interesting hint from the language now, because "river" in Hindi means "nadī," and these energy channels in us are called "nāḍī." I guess it is not by chance. So sometimes it is so obvious, but still you need a master to understand it. So now we know there, where the three rivers meet, this is here, the Ājñā Chakra. At the time of Kumbh Melā, that means when they are all three active, we should bathe, meaning now really dive into this water. What does it mean? To go into it, how can we do that? That means meditation. When you concentrate, there is still an object on which you concentrate. But when you go deeper in meditation, you become one with that. So you go deep here, you concentrate, you meditate. And then meditation may lead you to samādhi. So it is actually a practical yoga technique about which we are speaking when we speak about the Kumbh Melā. Now, everything you find in Swāmījī’s teaching is about the chakras. He also describes in the book one chapter about the different types and stages of samādhi. Basically, there are two: savichāra samādhi and nirvichāra samādhi. Vichāra means a seed. The seed of karma. And sabīja means with seed, nirbīja means without seed. That means there are samādhi experiences which are beautiful, but basically your karmas are still there. It means you are not yet liberated, and there is a highest form of samādhi called Nirbīja Samādhi, when once forever these seeds are burnt. Or Swāmījī sometimes says they are like roasted. You know, when you have a seed and you put it in the earth, a plant will come. But when you roast the seed and put it on the earth, nothing will happen. And these seeds are the origin for our future incarnations. When the seeds are roasted, they cannot sprout anymore. They cannot create a new incarnation anymore. That means once we have experienced this Nirbīja Samādhi, we are free from the cycle of birth and death. That means we are liberated. You see? A small difference in the understanding of what Kumbh Melā really means now. A tiny shift in that understanding. But then suddenly everything makes sense. And then suddenly, washing in the water is not really the way to purify the karmas. So it is definitely a great and inspiring experience. It is great when everyone can go there and really experience this. And I know many people who come back, and they are very, very happy, even though they were ill. But the essential teaching is still something else. And to understand that, you really need a master. So when we want to understand the essence of the religions, then we need the guidance of a master. I was once in India in a little bit of a challenging situation. I was invited to a Catholic school to give a lecture about yoga. It was in Udaipur. It was a big school of, I think, maybe 3,000 students. And it was a little bit of a funny situation because the principal of the school was a Catholic priest himself. You imagine now an Indian in the long red dress, and I, as a swami, a Western swami. And he invited me now to give a lecture about yoga to all his students of class 5, 6, and 7, which were some hundred. He said, "Yeah, in these classes they have some yoga practice." So it means they know about āsanas and prāṇāyāma. You do not need to speak about that. I want you to speak about the spiritual meaning of yoga. So that was now an interesting challenge. On one hand, of course, I do not want to offend anyone. But on the other hand, of course, I do not want to hide anything. Plus, it should be simple because it is for children. So then I was thinking how to do that, and then I told them a story. And I said, you know, there is a mountain, and on top of the mountain is a beautiful house. That is the house of God, and everyone is fascinated by that. Everyone is looking there and wants to come there. He wants to come to God. Now, people discuss that house. And one says, "Look, the beautiful red house of God." And the other one says, "Are you stupid? It is blue. I see it with my own eyes." And the third one says, "But it is green, what are you talking about?" So they cannot understand each other, but in fact, they all are true. Because one side of the house is red, one is green, one is blue, and one is yellow. Just, they have a different view on the house. And they cannot understand that someone else could have another view on the same house. And they also discuss how to come there. You know, on one side is a big ocean. On the other side, high mountains. On one side is a wild forest. On the other side, there is a big desert. And they say, oh, when you want to come there, you need a camel. But the camel cannot climb the mountains; you need a strong rope. No, no, the rope will not bring me through the ocean; you need a ship. And again, they think the other one is stupid. They cannot understand that there are different paths. But now one comes over the ocean, one through the desert, and they start slowly climbing up. Already when they are halfway up, then they look around and realize, "Oh, look, there is an ocean and there is a desert," and they start to understand. And they develop tolerance, so this is a sign of spiritual progress when we start to understand there are more paths and we start to accept others also. So now, finally, one came up and stands in front of the yellow door, one in front of the green door, one in front of the blue door, and they enter. So where are they now? They are in one and the same space, experiencing one and the same reality, one and the same God. And it does not matter anymore if they came through the red door, the blue door, or the green door. It does not matter anymore if they came through the ocean, the desert, or the mountains. It matters only that they are there. Now, what is important is someone who can give you guidance. One who is already in this house of God. And he can observe all around the disciples coming and give them hints: "Be careful, that mountain is dangerous, go the other path. Be careful, there is a big, how to say, whirlpool, go the other way." So that means a master is someone who has realized, who is already there. He can guide the disciples even from different paths. So, more important than the path which you choose is that you have a guide, a master who can guide you on that path. So that was my message which I gave to them. And I think it is easy to understand, and there was no problem. And I was not hiding anything. So yoga is the way to enter the house. It does not matter on which path you are going. No need to change any religion. But really important is that we have a master, that we have the right technique, and that we do it, our sādhanā. And as I said, what I observed, all the spiritual, esoteric techniques passed, they agree in certain principles: mantra, meditation, master, and the sādhanā to practice. Now, let us come back to Swāmījī’s words. I will repeat what I said already, and I guess now you will understand it deeper. Yoga is not a religion. Yoga is also not part of any specific religion. But yoga is the essence of every religion. That is Mahāprabhujī’s teaching, that is Swāmījī’s teaching, that is our path. So I hope now you are a little bit inwardly stronger and need not go into defense when someone asks you. All the best, Hari Om.