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In this book, you will discover that the history of a particular community stretches back thousands of years. There are references to it in the Mahābhārata and also in the Rāmāyaṇa. To trace that long, long history and to see it map out the different ways they worship, along with their customs for weddings and so on, is fascinating. I must admit, however, that I find some of these community functions quite boring. I have to say that some of those celebrity appearances seem boring to me—this regarding modern celebrities, those who are still alive today—because now, on average, half the time is spent on giving mālā, turbans, and so forth. We were sitting on a stage with a table in front of us. I took advantage of that opportunity; I buried the book under the table and spent the time reading about that community. It is very interesting to realize how many different communities there are and how many different spiritual paths exist, as we discussed a few evenings ago. Each has its own ways of worshipping on certain Mondays, with its own data. But the essence is all the same. The essence of the practice, and the compassion and caring towards other people in the community, is identical in all. On the way back, I was reflecting on what I said yesterday about children making a liṅga out of mitṭī—out of the soil. And the other day, when they were making rangoli at school, they were making it out of dāl, stones, and different things. I was thinking about those activities and about how it’s simply about making do with what you have right here, right now. I feel constantly aware that we always make up an excuse for why we can’t do something. We say we’ll wait for the weather to change a little, or wait for just this day to pass, or for a festival to pass because we’ll eat too much then. You know, when you adopt the attitude that children have—of just doing with what is there—you simply start today. If you wait for the perfect moment, it may never come. I often return to the example of surfing. In surfing competitions, the competitors have a limited time in which to catch waves. They cannot choose or know when good waves will come, or when small waves will come. Whatever is coming from the sea is a secret; it is hidden by the ocean. So, working within that time limit, if they wait for the perfect wave, it becomes very hard to score points when they haven’t caught any wave at all. One doesn't need to have been in a surfing competition to understand that if you don’t do anything, you don’t get any points. The competitors have to take what is available. They might wait a few minutes for something better, but then they go with something. They take that wave and make the most out of it they possibly can. It often fascinates me when people want to get fit and say, "I’ll do bike riding." But first, they believe they need to get a better bike. If you want to get fit, it would be better to have a worse bike because then you’ll have to do more work. The better the bike, the quicker you get from A to B, so you would just have to ride further. Better to have the heaviest bike with the most useless gears if you want to get fit or lose weight. Somehow, we are always waiting in that way for the perfect wave, or the perfect bike, or the perfect this or that. What we have now is perfect. It’s perfect for our practice. And the perfect moment to do it is now. Whether you’re in an ashram, at work, on holiday, or at school, it’s always the perfect time for practicing yoga. Whether that be sitting, doing āsanas, or simply in your work or in the way you are with other people. There was a beautiful article in the Hinduism Today magazine, perhaps one or two months ago. A line in it said something like, people should think to themselves, "I am a beam of spiritual light maturing in the ocean of experience." That may not be a perfect quote, but it was something like that: the light is there, and it’s maturing in this experience we have in this life. Every moment we spend is part of that maturing of our spirituality. That seems so beautiful. It takes that in: whatever it is, whatever we have in front of us now, that’s part of that spiritual experience. It may not be the most pleasant of our spiritual experiences, or it may be the most pleasant. But depending on our attitude towards this moment—on whether we welcome it or try to reject it—so will be our experience, and so will be the benefit we derive from it. One of our practices is simply to embrace each moment and try to find the gift inside it for us. Another beautiful concept from that article, which I think is posted on the notice board, is the idea of everybody thinking of themselves as a spiritual leader. Not in the sense that everybody is like "Swāmījī’s guru," or anything of that sort. But rather, that each action we make is a reflection of our spirituality. In whatever small way, it’s like a lesson and an example for others. It’s like when you’re a parent in front of your children; you become so careful of how you act. You realize that small boy or girl is being a mirror, expressing exactly those actions which you have. How responsible that makes you, conscious of every action and what sort of example it sets for that child. You can then extend that awareness beyond small children to everybody around you. This doesn’t mean going around giving lectures or telling people they should be spiritual or do this or that. It means that just through our own effort and through nurturing our own spirituality, we provide a small example to everyone around. Being conscious that what we do provides that example brings a consciousness to your actions: how you’re dressing, acting, talking, reacting. In reality, most of the time, it probably won’t make much difference to the people around you. But the person who benefits the most is yourself, because it brings an intensity to your spiritual awareness. To be that type of spiritual leader doesn’t mean having arrogance or thinking you’re better than anybody else. You are just humbly offering yourself. If you’re practicing Karma Yoga and doing Seva, it’s not something you can do for six or eight hours and then switch off. It’s something that’s part of you all the time. When you’re serving Swamiji, when you’re doing Guru Seva, you do it in the work you do, in your activities in the ashram, in your own practice, in the way that you move, and in the way that you live. It’s not something that’s exhausting; it’s something that’s beautiful and invigorating. It becomes exhausting only if you think of it as something difficult or as something you have to do. If you can let yourself go into it, it’s not a suffering; it’s beautiful. It’s joy. It’s about making your whole life your pūjā. So, it doesn’t matter where you are or what the situation is. It’s time to start at that time. Every time is good. Every time is perfect. If we wait for the perfect wave, we could be waiting until after the competition is over. It’s better that we catch as many waves as we can while we can. We should appreciate what has already been given to us: our mantra, our sādhanā, the gift of light we have from our Gurudeva. And let’s get on with it. Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁśrī Svayameśvara Nāmpurījī Satguru Devakī Jai Satguru Sandeśvāmoye Lāgeresu Ābana... Satguru Devapavana Lageresu Aabana. Satguru Devapavana Ram. Satguru Sandesh Omoye Lageresu Aavana. Satguru Deva Angan Yaya. Satguru Deva Angan Yaya Gyanadana Varsalaya. Sutta Hansa Turata Jagaye Ananda Baravana. Aṁkā Sundeśa Oṃoye Lāgheerē Suhavanā Satagirū Sundeśa Oṃoye Lāgheerē Suhavanā Lāgheerē Suhavanā Mera Satagirū Deva Pāvanā Lāgheerē Suhavanā Satagirū Deva Pāvanā O Motiyā Chokhā Purāvanā Rāmakā Sundeśo Moe Lagire Suāvanā Satguru Sundeśo Moe Lagire Suāvanā Lagire Suāvanā Mer Satguru Devā Pāvanā Laghere Suāvnā Mer Satgir Nivāpāvnā Rāmakār Sandeśomoye Laghere Suāvnā Satguru’s sandeshomoye laghere suavna laddu geva barpi yo pera, Sir puri yo rameva ghera. Gheri gurdari ki ra banao, Prabho jī jī mā vanā. Sattagurus Nesho Moye Lakhere Suavana, Kanchan Taal Bhujan Parsaavu, Apari Parshad Aroge, Apari Parshad Aroge, Pankh Pavan Dhulavana, Pankh Pavan Dhulavana, Ramka Sundesh Omoye, Lagere Suavana, Sattaguru Sundesho Moye Lagheere Suavana. Lagheere Suavana Mir Sattaguru Deva Pavana... Rām kā sandeśo lāge re suṇāvana, Sattaguru sandeśo mohe lāge gherā suṇāvana, Parabrahma Puruṣottama Svāmī... Śrī Devapurī Śāntāryāmī Śrī Svāmī Dīpakāya Avasajña Śrī Svāmī Dīpakāya Avasajña Ilmilā Maṅgala Gāvana hirvilā-maṅgala-gāvana rāṅka-sundesho-moye lagherā-suvāvana sattva-guru-sundesho-moye lagherā-suvāvana lagherā-suvāvana Mera-sattva-guru-deva-pāvana, laghera-suvāvana, sattva-guru-deva-pāvana.