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Salutations and adoration to Satguru Dev, Devpurījī, Bhagavān Dīpa Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī, and Svāmī Mādhavānandajī Satguru Dev. Oṁ Brahma Parama Sukhadāṁ Kevalaṁ Jñānaṁ Uratiṁ Dvandātītaṁ Gagana Sadṛśyaṁ Tasmādyadilakṣyaṁ Ekaṁ Nityam Vimalācalaṁ Sarvādhiṣakṣibhūtaṁ Bhava tītaṁ, Mātṛ Guṇa Rahītaṁ, Satguru taṁ Namaḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ. Good morning, dear brothers and sisters around the world and here in this hall. A beautiful blessing is coming to you from a beautiful country near Ireland called New Zealand, from a beautiful city called Auckland. We had a very beautiful wind in the night, a nice wind singing in the trees. They announced a storm, but it was not a storm; I was prepared for it. They said there would be floods, and I was thinking I would enjoy going for volunteer service somewhere. It was a disappointment—there was no flood. It was a very pleasant wind and pleasant rain. I waited until 3 o'clock in the night for something to happen, but nothing did. They said 6 o'clock, so at 4:30 I got up thinking something would happen. One thing happened: I had a good dream, which was the best. Thank you. It is a beautiful day and a beautiful time, and we have a very nice subject today. In fact, everyone is wondering and thinking about spiritual devotion. What do you understand about spiritual devotion? That is a very good question. The question was asked by one of the very good students, two years younger than you, Om Prakash. He is very great and is already becoming a world champion in table tennis. What kind of champion will you be? Basketball? Very good. There are two things: spirituality and devotion. Let us first come to the point of spirituality. What do we understand about spirituality? For me, spirituality means purity—crystal clear pure—and that purity is called God. You may see it as pure consciousness, or the light, or the truth. That is called Brahma Satyaṁ Jagan Mithyā. All that we can see here in this world, what is happening, is all temporary and changeable. But that eternal truth is unchangeable, unspeakable, everlasting, eternal, and immortal. So, transparent clarity is spiritual. We try to connect our consciousness with that purity. Now, there are different kinds of purity in our physical world. As Mahāprabhujī said, there are two kinds of purities: the inner and the outer. The inner spirituality is connected to the divine, and outer spirituality is connected to this world. Purification first comes from where you live. What kind of air is there? What kind of environment—polluted or clean air? Nowadays, you live in big cities, working the whole day within four walls. In many cases, there are no windows; everything is air-conditioned. Oxygen is very little; the air is circulated again and again. Then comes the weekend, and you go to the woods for a little walk. You say, "Oh, I can’t breathe." That is the purity. First, live in an environment of pure nature and pure air. Second, eating. What you eat influences your body, your mind, your intellect, and all your actions. So, eat limited and eat sāttvic food. In Āyurveda and in the Bhagavad Gītā, it is written in the third chapter about karma and yoga, about the three guṇas: rajas guṇa, tamas guṇa, and sattva guṇa. The food we take may be more rajasic, more tamasic, or more sāttvic. To maintain purity, we have to take sattva-guṇa food. Sattva-guṇa food is vegetarian and also limited—less milk products and less grains, of course, but lentils, fruits, vegetables, and so on. There are a lot of proteins in lentils and soybeans. Soya has more protein than people think. In meat, the protein is not alive. Sāttvic food gives more quality to our life. With better qualities, we can better learn, concentrate, meditate, work, and maintain harmonious relations in society. What kind of food you eat, like that your thinking and behavior will be. What kind of liquid you drink, like that you will speak. If you drink nice fresh water, a cup of milk, or a glass of juice, you feel happy and balanced. But if you drink a glass of alcohol, then your tongue seems thicker and your pronunciation is not clear. You know how you begin to speak. I heard yesterday that here in Auckland, unfortunately, every Friday at 5 o'clock in every office and company, people offer alcohol and consume so much they become drunk. Accidents happen, and sometimes taxis... The taxi driver asks, "Where do you want to go?" and they are so drunk they do not even know. I wonder why society allows this. If you go to sit and meditate or relax, they think that is not good. How has the world’s thinking turned in an unhealthy way? Why don’t they see this is harmful? They can offer nice milk and juice. You can offer, at most, one cup of coffee or a good meal. Alcohol is a big business now; the biggest drug abuse is alcohol. An alcoholic person is very sad and suffering, and it is very hard to get rid of the habit. But this is allowed. You can have an accident—no problem, we have an ambulance. You have an injury—no problem, we have a hospital and surgery. A broken spine—no problem, we have wheelchairs. But meditation, relaxing, and doing something good—this they don’t allow. So, it is beautiful to think about maintaining health and atmosphere in the world and society by turning to the sāttvic way of life. I also wonder, why do people drink? If they offer, say, "Thank you, I’m going. I don’t want to drink." If someone offers you poison, will you drink it? No. But it’s my company, so I drink poison. How will you come home? There is a car for the funeral; the dead body should be transferred by car. It is your individual decision whether you accept or not. If you do not accept, it does not mean they will hold you and put the alcohol bottle in your mouth. No. Finally, it is your decision. Some people take other kinds of drugs. They say, "Try a little." A little trying is so harmful you become addicted and dependent. Your body asks for it again. Addiction means to add more and more. The sāttvic quality of life is purity. Then you can meditate, talk nicely with friends, and have good family relations. Many children are afraid their father or mother will come home drunk and begin to quarrel. You are damaging the children’s life too, but you accept that. Yet you do not accept meditating a little on this. The company you keep, the society you are in—like that color you will take. "Color" means habits and qualities. So, outer purities in food, and then clean clothes and washing yourself—this is called self-respect. There is a difference between ego and self-respect. When you are properly dressed and washed, it is a respect to others. When you respect others, it is a respect to you. If you do not wash for ten days and go with the same socks, the whole bus knows you are the same passenger. In the office, poor people working there cannot open the windows, and if you take your shoes off a little, the whole room smells like spoiled cheese from the socks. The problem is one does not feel the bad smell because one is already dipped in it. So, show respect to others through proper behavior. Outer purification also includes your house and room. How does your room look when you enter? Many people come home and throw their shirt there, jacket there, one sock in this corner, the other in front of the bathroom door, a cup lying there, a plate lying there, half-eaten bread somewhere. Your flat looks like after an earthquake. Always keep things in the right place. In German they say, "Ordnung ist eine Bahnstraße"—everything has its right place in order, meaning it is one-way traffic. Make your room tidy before you go to school or work. When you get up, do not just throw your blanket; half the pillow is lying down, and you go quickly. Hair brushing, then you go to school. "I slept very little." Teachers ask, "Why?" "I was watching television." Why did you watch television so late? Look in your books; learn something. Students should clean their room nicely. When they come home, they feel fresh and clean, like in the military. You have to get up and make your bed. That is good training and discipline. Discipline makes life comfortable. Outer purification includes your toilet and bathroom. Your toilet and bathroom are the nose of the house. You can judge people by how clean their bathroom and toilet are. If you clean your bathroom after washing, it takes three minutes. If you do not clean for a whole week, it takes three hours and is still not proper. Then a guest comes, and you think, "Oh God, what will they think?" It takes one or two minutes to make everything tidy. Always look good. Inner purification means, first, positive thinking. If someone makes a mistake and I am angry, then think: if I were in that place and that person were angry with me, how would I feel? If you hurt someone, feel that: if you were hurt, how would you feel? Always compare others with your feelings. Then there will be no aggression, no anger, and no hate. Positive thinking is purification, called spirituality. So, forgiveness, understanding, positive thinking. If there is a problem, find a solution so that you and your friend remain in good relation, and you help your friends solve the problem. From time to time, go for a walk and talk, look at the beautiful nature and birds. It makes you very happy. Read nice, inspirational books. Now, in this Kali Yuga, all good books are locked in the library. What do you read every morning? The newspaper. What is written in the newspaper? Where is the earthquake? Where is the oil? The ship is broken? Who was killed? What happened? Good news is not there. So, all the time you are feeding negative news early in the morning. It creates anger or fear. Very few people get up in the morning, have a cup of coffee, and read the Līlāmṛta or Bible or the Quran or the Rāmāyaṇa or the Gītā or Upaniṣads or some good books that give nice inspiration. The whole day you have beautiful thoughts. This is spirituality. Now, devotion. Devotion means respect. Devotion means surrender. We surrender our mistakes and weaknesses. We believe there is a higher level of consciousness. We believe there are higher principles in this universe, and we believe that all this is supporting us; they are not against us. So, devotion means we would like to get a harmonious connection or relation. Never be afraid of God. Many people think, "Oh, God will punish you." No, God will not punish you. It is you who are punishing yourself. Go to God, go to the Gurudev, go to the temple, go to spiritual persons, as you go to your mother or father, without fear. Even if you have fear towards your parents, you should not have fear towards them. We maintain a higher and pure relation. That is called devotion. Spiritual devotion does not mean I must pray, "Oh God, forgive me, my sins." No, do not fear. God is your best friend. God is the one who loves you most, more than anyone. He is the supreme, the highest, the Śiva consciousness. There is someone who loves you, that is Śiva. Śiva loves you always. That Śiva is in everyone. It does not matter if you call Kṛṣṇa or Rāma or Jesus or Mohammed. That spiritual divine consciousness is Śiva consciousness. So, do not be afraid. God loves us. All spiritual beings love us. There are no negative devils in this space. The devil and negativity are our thinking; our fear and imagination create the enemy and devil. Devotion means humbleness, kindness, purity. It means you love and respect, and that is a pure love—spiritual devotion. If you help a blind person cross the street, it is spiritual devotion. If you help a needy person, it is spiritual devotion. If you remove a piece of glass or stones or thorns from the path, that is spiritual devotion. So, spiritual devotion must not be only towards the name of God or towards God. See God in everyone. Why do you remove the thorns? You need not step on them; you can just go. But you think someone may come, not see the thorns, and step on them, or a dog or cat may step on a thorn. So, you are thinking already in the future to do good things, and by doing good now, you will receive good fruit in the future. Spiritual devotion: be good with your friends, be good with your parents, be good with your partners. Come home at a reasonable time; do not wander here and there the whole night. That is very important. One thing I like in New Zealand very much, though I was a little unhappy, I like it very much. Yesterday, after our beautiful Sudhāra Kriyā—you liked it? The complete ceremony, Sudhāra Kriyā. Then I said, let us go to a vegetarian or Indian restaurant. They said, "9:30, nearly 10. There are no restaurants open." I said, "What? 10 o’clock, no restaurant open for eating?" They said, "Of course. Who will go at 10 o’clock for eating?" Here in New Zealand, the Kiwis, maximum 8 o’clock, or longer until 9 o’clock, then go home and sleep. That I like very much. In Austria and Vienna, dinner time begins in the restaurant at 10 o’clock, from 10 till 1 o’clock is the peak time for eating. They are all sitting everywhere in Europe. All restaurants are open. They close when no one is coming and they are sleeping. They open their eyes and say, "Maybe one more euro will come." No euro is coming. Maybe an alcoholic will come and bring five euros. Then they see there is no chance anymore, so they close and go. It is the money that lets people dance. So, it was nice that they said, "No more eating business at 10 o’clock," except for some hotels and restaurants for tourists, because tourists come to risk their sleep and rest. Spiritual devotion is service to all. You can have spiritual devotion to your trees, flowers, and gardens. Have a harmonious, loving, positive relation to nature, to the world, to people, and to thyself. Show yourself that you are a spiritual person. You are not one who, on Friday after five o’clock, begins to drink even if the company gives you alcohol. On Monday you come to work and destroy the computer. Your company owner will say, "Why? What happened? You destroyed the computer?" "Sir, Friday’s alcohol is still active in me." Then they will realize they should not give alcohol on Friday. Spiritual devotion, spiritual bhakti, is the best bhakti, as given by Kṛṣṇa. Spiritual devotion is to give. Do not think spiritual devotion is only sitting in the church, temple, or ashram. No, not only this: active, positive thinking, harmonious thinking, loving thinking, kind thinking, forgiveness, and feeling others as your own. Feel others’ property as your property. Do not destroy others’ property. When you are in a hotel and all the lights are burning and you go out, that is not good. You should turn off the lights and then go out for tea or coffee or eating. When you come in, it takes one hand moving to put the light on. Thanks to God, now hotel people know guests do not care about the light, so when you take the key out, the light goes off automatically after four minutes. But you have to feel others’ property as your own always. Wherever I am in a hotel, if I see the bathroom water is leaking or not good, I inform the counter. They said, "Really? Our cleaners didn’t tell us." I said, "I am the second cleaner to tell you. You can do it." So, think that no one’s property is destroyed. Some people, while walking, make scratches on different cars. That is not good. How would you think if someone made scratches on your car? That is not spiritual behavior. A spiritual person will always feel others as your own, to protect and save them. Then the world will be very happy and well. My dear ones, I wish you all the best. The next webcast will be tomorrow morning. Tomorrow evening, the webcast will come from Wellington, around 7:30 Auckland time, also 7:30 European time, but you will have morning and we will have evening. Thank you. Finally, we will announce because now we are changing. If you are coming to Auckland, hurry up and book your ticket. Welcome. But before you come, you should announce the organizers to see if they have a place free, because everything is booked, especially because of the Sudarśana Kriyā. People are coming from different parts of the world. I think this Sudarśana Kriyā, maybe I will only introduce in New Zealand and Australia. For Europe, I will wait still, so that all Europeans come here. Good? Good. We will announce you in the next program. Thank you. All the best, and God bless you. I wish you all very pure spiritual devotion. Śrī Dīpa Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī, Śrī Deveśvara Mahādeva kī, Dharma Samrāṭ Satguru Svāmī Mādhavānandajī Bhagavān kī, Satya Sanātana Dharma kī, Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ.