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Kī Jai, Śrī Śrīdeva Puruṣa Mahādeva Kī Jai, Dharma Samrāṭ Paramahaṃsa, Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda Purī Jī Mahārāja Kī Jai, Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṃsa, Śrī Svāmī Maheśvarānanda Purī Jī, Satguru Deva Kī Jai. Today was Children’s Day, and we went to school to see the displays which the children had put on. A little bit of information about what Children’s Day is here: it is actually Nehru’s birthday—the first Prime Minister of India’s birthday. I hope I got my history right. And he always wished that rather than his birthday be celebrated, it should be celebrated as a day for children, because he always saw that the children, of course, are the future of the country. He actually made a lot of educational institutions that were very special in India—some quite famous universities, some institutes of technology and management which are on the world level, some of the best, and also some schools, one in each district in the state, that have very, very good education. So he was always pushing for children to get a good education, although in some ways the system may not have succeeded as he liked. But it was always his wish to promote that. Today in school, the children were dressing up as different goddesses and gods, like Saraswati and Rāma, and also as farmers, celebrating the farmers who work in the fields. There was painting, there were pictures, there was the mehendī, the henna, art on the hands. And there was also what they call raṅgolī, which is making pictures on the ground out of color and out of different objects. What I love about the raṅgolī is actually the principle of it, that you should use whatever you can find around to make those pictures. It is not that you have all of this special colour and special equipment that you do it with. Today when we went to the school and saw the raṅgolī which they had actually made, some colors were there which they had bought from the market, but also they were using dal, different coloured dals, they were using small stones, they were using some of the flowers from the garden, they were using leaves, they were using sand, they were using sawdust. All of those things were coming together to make those pictures, and that was their decoration. That same principle applies in the village: whatever they have to make it with, they quickly make the decorations when they are having their functions. For me, it is quite a beautiful example. Last year we also had the example with them. After there was the earthquake in Japan, the children in the next weeks afterwards were making all of these different pictures in the school on the ground: “Mahāprabhujī Karatā, Mahāprabhujī Karatā, Mahāprabhujī...” If it becomes so complicated—but this for me is just an example of how simple these things can be, how that beauty doesn’t come from having all different equipment, but from just having the bhāva, the feeling towards it inside, towards making that decoration. Also, when you look at our practice, you know, there is always this tendency to accumulate more and more practices. I’ve got to turn it off today. But for what? Actually, our path is so simple. And the more simple it is, the more pure it is, and the more we can be aware of just those things which we have to do. I can remember when I was younger, I was playing the guitar, and one of the things I thought about playing guitar was that if I learn this instrument, then at least when I get older, if I come to a financial crisis and I have no other assets or I don’t have a lot of money, at least I can take my guitar, and I can be happy, and I can play. And I can have my entertainment in that, and I can have the joy. After staying in Jadan for a long time, I don’t play the guitar much. But I have noticed that a guitar requires a guitar, and it also requires strings. And there is something even simpler: if you can find your happiness in it, then you’re really set for the future. And that is in your mālā. You know, at any time, any time in life, if you have that connection with your mālā and with that mantra, all you need is the mālā, or not even that—you can do it without. And a space to sit, or a chair to sit, or whatever. It is something that is so simple that everyone can have, but it is the ultimate in beauty. It can be something so beautiful if you can cultivate that. And it doesn’t require a lot of equipment, it doesn’t require a lot of money, it doesn’t require anything. It requires just a dedication from within, a connection, and a trust in that mantra. That simplicity that comes with that—I was reading this afternoon one book by one Zen master, and he was just saying, the most important thing to have in your practice is to have a childlike mind, very simple without any complexity to it, just to look at what you’re doing now, to look at the practice that you’re doing, to look at the moment that you’re in, to keep it as simple as possible. That seemed to me to go so well together with what the kids were doing today in the school. I guess what I got out of Children’s Day was just to keep it simple. Keep our practice simple. We don’t need more and more different things to do, but we need to just do what we do well. To look at what we have around and to make the most out of that. I used to amuse myself when I would go back to Australia, and it would become so complicated that I had to meditate somewhere where there was a beautiful sunrise. And you know, you’d get up really early so you could go there and be in that place to see that sunrise, and I think, and now I’m going to close my eyes. Could have done it at home, or could have done it outside in the garden, because I’m not going to see any of that sunrise. I’m going to do my mālā now. You know, that place where we do this practice doesn’t have to be perfect, but our attention should be directed towards that practice. Do not be so worried about what is around and the conditions that we think are disturbing it. Why should they disturb it? The practice is going on inside. Om Bholē Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai, Śrī Śrī Devpurījī Mahādeva Kī Jai, Dharma Samrāṭ Paramahaṃsa Śrī Svāmī Madhavānanda Purī Jī Mahārāj Kī Jai, Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṃsa Śrī Svāmī Maheśvarānanda Purī Jī, Satguru Dev Kī Jai. I have to make one more comment. Today is the last day that, seeing as we are just talking about keeping things simple and appreciating what is around, we have with Professor Evelyn. Thank you very much. Without joy, fantastic. So I think that she’s the professor on the subject, really. Unfortunately, she’s refused to give us a lecture, but I think we just had a two-month lecture. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān, Kī Jaya, Satguru Deva, Kī Jaya.