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You are in me, I am in you. I am not in you; I am in your hands. You have given me this life. Sābhābhār Tumhārghātom, Sābhābhār Tumhārghātom, Sābhārghātom, Sābhārghātom. And I think there is also some inner process. But these are the two ends of physical existence. At this point, the Guru is the same as us. The physical body is also under physical laws. But the Guru does not die. The Guru is the eternal principle. And if we look deep, the same is in us. That’s what we always sing in this bhajan: "Jyota se, jyota se, jagāvo." There are two candles, and there is no difference between them. Just to be clear, between our Ātmā and Swāmījī’s Ātmā and Mahāprabhujī’s Ātmā, there is no difference. The difference is only that our flame is not yet burning so brightly, like this beautiful Diwali tree that is not yet lit. It was a nice time for me to be with my family here. I was thinking, maybe for the end today, to go to another bhajan, the one we had yesterday in the video: "Bārahobhāga Unadeśa." It is a beautiful bhajan, quite special for me, actually unique. On one hand, it is peaceful like a meditation, and on the other hand, it is powerful like a hymn. Two things which usually don’t go together, but here they do. Again, it’s about the glory of the Guru, the incarnation of the Guru. You can look in your bhajan book. "Bhajāho bhajāga." Bhajāga is fate, our destiny, the karma we have created. Swāmījī explains it like this: it comes from bhajagana. So, Bhagavān means it’s gone, out of hand. That karma, once created, we cannot stop it anymore; it becomes our destiny. Usually we understand this only individually, as pralabdha karma. But here, this word is also applied to a whole country. There are different levels of karma. Much of our suffering nowadays in Kali Yuga is due to our collective karma. Great is the fate, great is the karma of that land where Satguru Dev enters, where Satguru Dev enters into a body. This is a Diwali lecture about Mahāprabhujī’s mother. Not every mother is fit to receive a divine child; it is a huge energy that comes. When Swāmījī speaks about avatāra, he uses the word prāṇa. He says in a certain part of the cosmos, a huge energy, a huge prāṇa concentrates, and this incarnates in the form of a Guru. This is what we call an avatar. This word is also used here. Not everyone is able to contain such an energy, and the same is applied to the country. A country where a Satguru incarnates must be worthy. From this point of view, how many saints have incarnated in India? How many world religions have their origin in India? So this bhajan is about the glory of Mahāprabhujī and the glory of India. What I just said—that the country must be worthy to receive an avatar, like a mother must be worthy to be the mother of a divine incarnation—this comes in the first verse: "Dhanānī, Dhanānī, Jananī." This is the mother. Glory to the mother, the holy mother who gave birth to such an avatar. "Jananī Kamalā Balihāra"—my salutation, I sacrifice myself to her holy lotus feet, and of course also to the holy lotus feet of that child who has just been born. "Amaraloka sepadharia." Amaraloka is another word for Brahmaloka, the immortal world. The avatar, here Mahāprabhujī, came from the immortal world. "Manushyatana Vipudhara." Manushyatana is a human body, meaning it could also be another body, another form. In the tradition about the incarnations of Lord Viṣṇu, he came in different forms: as a fish, a boar, a half-lion half-man, and so on. Here it is said Vipu came in human form. Vipu is a shortening for Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu is an interesting word. It contains two words: viśva, meaning the universe—that which is huge and contains everything—and aṇu, the opposite, the smallest, the atom. So Viṣṇu is that which contains everything; it is huge and it is the smallest. This is a typical way to describe the indescribable in the form of a contradiction, a paradox. In fact, what is beyond duality we cannot understand with our intellect or describe with our language. It says everything is God, and God is even in the smallest, tiniest atom. And he came to bring us happiness, to help those who are suffering, as it is said: "Whenever the dharma is in decline and adharma is dominating the world, then I incarnate myself." Dharma means righteousness, following spiritual laws, which also means those who follow this have a hard time in such times. In Kali Yuga, spiritual life is not easy; it is not generally accepted. So Mahāprabhujī, the Guru, incarnates to help those on the spiritual path, to re-establish the Dharma, to guide through teaching and through the example of his own life. "Kina Hans Udhar." Hans is a symbol for the soul, and udhār means liberation. He came to liberate the souls. What does it mean? Is the soul bound? In reality, it is never bound. In reality, we are never separated. It is only our ignorance. I always give the example of the wave of an ocean. The wave feels lonely, separate from other waves and separate from the huge ocean. But is it true? Is there ever any separation? It is just holding on to the physical form of a wave. That is a separation. The essence of the wave is just water, and the essence of the other waves is also water, and the essence of the huge ocean is also water. So where is the separation? It is just in our mind. It is our holding on to our individuality that we actually separate ourselves. So the Guru just shows us that this is our ignorance, and this is already our liberation. "Kinahan Sa Udhara"—he came to liberate the souls. "Darśana kāryāsu dukmite": those who have the darśana of the Guru, their suffering is removed. That means you come to the satsaṅg, you understand, and your view changes, your life changes. When you speak with normal people, mostly they see life as a burden, and the whole mind is concentrated on all the daily struggles, on all the problems with housing, work, money, health, and so on. Our mind is bent down under this burden, and we don’t see anything deep, any sense in our life. Now you meet the Guru, and he asks you: "Are you aware of the value of your human body?" You start thinking, "Yes, really, that’s something special. I never thought like that." You start breathing more freely and seeing your life in a completely different view. You see the chance you have in human life, and you see a practical path that is possible. You realize it’s a blessing to have a human body, a human life. Did anything change in your financial situation, your work? No. But in your mind, that all becomes suddenly peanuts because you have a completely different view of your life. You have an aim, a motivation, a deep sense in your life. This is how the satsaṅg, the darśan of a Guru, transforms us. "Darśan nakariyāso dukomete"—through the darśan, our suffering is gone. "Śūnye naraka vikāra." Narak is hell. You leave behind all the sufferings from hell. And I think what I just said makes it clear: where is this hell? That’s just here. That is how most people experience this world, as a hell. But this is a view. When our view changes, suddenly everything is transformed. And, of course, this is also our qualities: how we live, with which attitude we actually live our life. "Kāla, Dharmarāja, Yamarāja"—this is the lord of death, Lord Yama. So what is the power of Lord Yama? This is exactly the topic we had here with Avatar and Mahāsamādhi. The power of Lord Yama is big; he is the Lord of Death. This world is called Mṛtyuloka, the world of death. But it is limited; it’s only on the physical level. As long as our consciousness, our identification, is on the physical level, then we are in trouble. But once we lift our consciousness higher and realize who we really are, then what is the power of Lord Yama anymore? This is exactly the statement here. "Kya?" This is a question. What is the power of Lord Yama? Nothing. "Deke Nājarāpāsara"—on whom the Guru looks full of mercy. That means who follows the Guru and who has the guru kṛpā. For such a soul, the lord of death has no power anymore. The Lord of Death cannot come any closer to you. Hence, the next sentence is really funny. There is the word "kāla," which means another expression for death, and "kāla" also means time. So, whatever is not permanent is actually ruled by the Lord of Death. Therefore, these two meanings of kāla: death and time. But now it says, "kare kāla ko āhāra"—that means now the Guru is having death like his food. So now death cannot come close because he must be afraid the Guru will eat him. I think it’s a very beautiful way of expressing this. When we are in the shelter of the Guru, we are protected. But to be in the shelter of the Guru does not just mean to be physically close, but to be close in the heart, to hold on to the teaching, to hold on to the blessing. "Vināśate guru nahīṁ tarasakhī." Taranā means to cross over, as we have in so many bhajans: to cross over the ocean of the world. Without a Satguru, that is not possible. For whom? For everyone. For the devas ("Sūr"), for the humans ("Nara"), for the munis, avatars, saints, and divine incarnations. Now, let us think: did Mahāprabhujī really need a Guru? He was an avatar. I don’t think he needed it. Does light need light to get enlightened? But to give us a clear path and clear example, even he took a Guru, and we know from Līlā Amṛt how many events happened between them to give us inspiration, and how many loving bhajans Mahāprabhujī wrote in the glory of his Guru. Nowadays, it becomes a fashion to say, "The Guru is good, but I don’t need one," or they go one step further and say there are no real Gurus, or, as I heard recently, someone saying, "I am now my own antaryāmī." Antaryāmī is the word for the inner Guru, the inner master. That is the saying of our ego. That says you are already gone, spiritually lost your path. Because on our path, different things happen. Two events are standard. We practice and practice and practice, and nothing happens. We think that nothing happens. On the fine level, all the time something is happening. But in our awareness, we feel we don’t make any progress because often we hear from people who have blissful experiences, and it seems to happen to everyone but not to me. In reality, I guess most of us are of this character. So nothing happens because it’s so subtle, you don’t realize. And then we come to a point where we want to give up. We lose our discipline, we lose our interest. Slowly, the māyā takes over. Now we need the Guru: to make us clear in which direction we are going, to bring us back on the right path. These are moments when you can see, sometimes, Swāmījī with so much love caring for one disciple. I myself have experienced this, especially in 1989 when I was in India. I was Swāmījī’s disciple for two years, but I was quite intellectual. My heart was like a block of ice, I would say, and far away from Bhakti. What Swāmījī did was, two or three times in India, there was so much love shown to me, it was just like melting, you know, and I realized in that moment, never ever has anyone in my life loved me like he. Sometimes Swāmījī is so caring, so encouraging, so full of love in showing the love. This is because we need it; we need the encouragement on our path, not to lose our path and to open our heart. This is one standard problem, I would say: that we feel we don’t make any progress, and we want to give up, and we need the encouragement of the Guru. The other aspect is when one really has some experiences, and others may start respecting you; you get into a certain role. You become the teacher, the leader, the organizer, respected for this or that, or you have some real spiritual experiences. That is all quite dangerous because so easily now the ego comes: "Ah, what a great yogī I am." And then, listen to your prayers: "Oh, thank you that I make so much progress, that my ego is already so small." You know the shortest joke in the world? "I’m so proud that I have no ego." This is where we come, then. Then we need the Guru in another aspect: the Śiva aspect. Then he comes with a triśūla and says, "What’s going on?" Then you need one on the head, and that hurts. This is now not the hot water over the stone; now comes the axe and cuts it, and you say, "What’s going on?" Cutting the ego into pieces. Just think, Swāmī Jasrāt, what he spoke about: his experiences with holy Gurus. All the time, holy Gurujī tried to awaken in him this or that identification: "I’m good, I’m good with this, I’m good with that." And as soon as this pride is there, boom, comes the next one. So the whole spiritual training is about our ego. Therefore, without the Guru, we cannot cross the ocean of the world. And this is valid for everyone. Now comes the most important statement in this bhajan: "Guru Īśvara Sī Adek He." Two are compared: the Guru and Īśvara. Īśvara again means God. And it says the Guru is greater than God. That’s a quite tough statement. As such, I think we have it very rarely, so clearly expressed, like in this bhajan. So when we explain to someone about the master, about the Guru, I guess mostly we say, "Yeah, the master, he guides us, he teaches us, he inspires us." Then maybe you would say, "Yes, the Master is actually the channel of the Divine. The Master leads us to God, so you cannot find God without the Master." I guess this is the way we usually think and how we usually speak to others about the Guru. But did you ever speak like this? I guess most people would be taken aback and say, "The Guru is greater than God? What are you saying?" So, how to understand that? You see, God made the rules of this universe, and one important rule is the law of karma. So now this universe is going on; life is going on; the cycle of birth and death is going on. Now, what is the role of the Guru? The Guru is the manifestation of the compassion of God. Now God himself comes in the same conditions which he has created here. Why did we come here, in this physical body? Because of karmas. So what is the karma of an avatar? No karma. So why is he here? For one single reason: because out of compassion, he sees us suffering, struggling, and he comes to help us. So you can say the Guru is the active arm reaching out to us. It is like with this king, with two aspects of God: God the Father and God the Mother. God the Father is the divine pure consciousness, and God the Mother is the whole creation. You cannot judge and say this is more or that is more; they are two different aspects. So, in the same way, God who gave this whole, created this universe and all the rules which are active here—that’s one aspect of God. And the aspect of God which reaches out to us comes as an avatar here in this physical world. That’s another aspect of God. But for us, this aspect is much more important. This is where we can hold on. You see, it is like a calf is looking for the milk, and it knows the milk is in the mother. Now the calf comes close to the mother and walks all around, but it doesn’t get any milk. The milk is there; the mother is the milk, and you know it, and you are close, but you don’t get it. So now you need that channel, this connection, where you really get the milk. And only there, when you connect there, then you get the essence. So everything is there in God, and we know it. But when we want to access it, we have to access it through the right channel, and that is a Guru. Therefore, for us, the Guru is much more important than God. And to disconnect from the Guru means to disconnect from God. The Guru is greater than God. And all the qualities, all the abilities he has under his command. That means when we want something from God, we have to go to the Guru. There we get it. He says, "Now I met my Satguru." "Bhit" or "Bhint" means the meeting. He gave me the mercy to meet him. It’s also a karma to meet the Guru. Most of us, we are not meeting the Guru for the first time; it’s a continuing karma. Remember this question of Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gītā. Arjuna asks Kṛṣṇa, "I’m practicing yoga and try my best to achieve the aim of liberation. But what happens now if I die before I reach the aim? Then everything is lost, everything is in vain." And Kṛṣṇa says it’s not like that. No step is lost; every step is counted. When this happens, then you will be reborn under favorable conditions. This goes as a karma with you, and at the proper time, this karma will awaken. Then you will find your path again, and then these abilities or the spiritual development which was there awakens quite easily. That means we get a chance to continue in another life, and that means, first of all, to find our Guru, our guru paramparā again, and to get the mantra again. So our karma guides us quite naturally to where we belong. So, "Deep Nārāyaṇ Sattā Guru Bhedāya"—I met my Guru, Deep Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī. His glory, "Mahimā Agama Apara," is incomprehensible, beyond description. I am so happy that he was so merciful, he chose me, he accepted me. You see, when we get initiation, it’s actually like an adoption, like parents adopt a child, and now it is their child. They love it, they care for it, and when it’s naughty, they will care even more for it. So when the Guru accepts us, that is the greatest day in our life. And he gives us the mantra, and our spiritual path starts that moment. Everything else before is actually preparation. Now, listen how humble Brahmānandjī speaks here about his relation to Mahāprabhujī. We know from Līlā Amṛt that Brahmānandjī himself was an enlightened saint. But here he is like a humble child. He says, "I’m so happy that he accepted me." We had the word "Adam" yesterday already. It means the one who is adharmic, not keeping—we can say a sinner. He liberated the sinner. This is the attitude of that; that is a humble approach. As Swāmījī always says, progress in spirituality is progress in humbleness. Okay, let us sing the bhajan. Let us sing it. Kījaya. [Bhajan verses recited]: Charnakamalabhaliha, amaralokasipadhariya jee anushyatana vipadhaam. Satgur liyavata bhagunadisha, Satgur liyavata dukhyaanko sukhyaankari. Kena Hansa Udha Dukhyanko Sukhyankari Darshan Karyaso, Dukum Itti Agunadi Satgurliyavataah, Bhaagunadi Satgurliyavataah. Kya tak jam rāj kī dekh najar pas kya tak jam rāj kī dekh najar pas? Na niddo nahī̃ ās kī Tare kālaka ānannidho nahī̃ āsakī Tare kālaka āhābhāga unadīśa. Satgur liyāvatā bārābhāga unadīśa. Satgur liyāvatā dīnasatgur nahi tārsa kī. Oh Jī, Surnar Muni Avatā, Bina Satguru Nahip Tarsakhi. Oh Jī, Sūrṇar Muni Avatā, Gurū Īśā Barṣī Adhikhe. Oh Jī, Pargun Adhikha, Gurū Īśā Bārsī Adhikhe. Rāyāṁ sat-gurubhīptiyāṁ jīma-gaṁ pāṁ, śrī-brāhmaṇ-nanda-puri-bīnā-bīn jīma-gaṁ pāṁ... So, our seminar is now slowly going to the end. What is left is to say a big thank you to all those who made this seminar possible, and that’s first of all Swāmījī, whose blessing brought us together. And otherwise, all the karma yogīs: those who are here working permanently in Strelka ashram, and all those who now joined in the karma yoga and helped us to have such a beautiful and relaxed atmosphere here. Thank you also to the translator, to the video team, to the kitchen, to all those who did the cleaning, who were on security, and whom did I forget? Svāmīho Gajānandīho! Svāmī Pārvatīcī!