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Part 1: The Gentle Flame: On Humility, Prayer, and the Light of Satsaṅg Good evening, dear sisters, brothers, aspirants, and spiritual seekers. These four days have been beautiful. We have engaged in a dialogue concerning karma and dharma, particularly the purification of karma—both in theory and practice. I offered many practical examples: when we turn on a light, darkness disappears. When we turn it off, darkness returns. So, even if you do not believe in karma, you can at least believe that light dispels darkness. Similarly, when you put the right thoughts into practice, karma is purified. Yesterday evening and this morning, we discussed six points: dharma, which encompasses righteousness, justice, and injustice; jñāna and pāpa—where jñāna signifies piety and good actions, and pāpa signifies sin. The fifth and sixth points were āśīrvāda (blessing) and śrāpa (curse). In ancient stories and literatures from every culture around the world, you can find this theme of blessings and curses. How does one receive blessings? Only through humility. With humility and kindness, you attract blessings. When rain falls on the mountains, the water flows down into the deep valleys and lakes. The low places, the valleys and lakes, receive the water naturally. Similarly, blessings flow automatically to those who possess humility. Despite trying everything, a human being finds that without the help of God or a spiritual master—a luminary—we cannot manage to progress. Therefore, as I shared yesterday in the story of Arjuna: he approached Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa with a prayer, a request. He said, "I have tried everything, my lord, but I cannot succeed. Please help me." Tameva mātā ca pitā tvameva — You alone are my mother and father. Tameva bandhu cha sakhā tvameva — You alone are my relative and my friend. Tameva vidyā draviṇam tvameva — You alone are my knowledge and my wealth. Tameva deva sarvam vidhyā — You are my knowledge, and you are my Lord. You are everything, oh my Lord. Tām eva mātā ca pitā tvam eva. Tam eva bandho cha sakhā tam eva. Tam eva vidyā draviṇam tam eva. Tām eva sarvam mama deva deva. — Everywhere you are, my Lord. After such prayer and practice, we say, "O Lord, through my mind, my senses, my words, I am not capable of worshipping Thee. If I make a mistake, please forgive me." Humility and kindness—just try them, and you will see beautiful things suddenly enter your life. It is like a fog obscuring your vision; when the fog moves, the road becomes clear. It is said: whenever you feel scared, pray. When you cannot see a way out of your troubles, pray. Your prayer will always be there to help you. Your prayers are listened to immediately by God. Prayers come in many forms. It does not matter which language you use or to which God you pray; all is one. The God you have believed in since ancient times, the one in your blood and your lineage, will help you. Prayer, prayer. Gandhi said, "Physically, I can fast, but mentally I cannot fast, because my mental tonic, which gives me strength, is my prayers." He also said, "I understand why people fast once a week or on a full moon." On that fasting day, you use the time for prayer—the time you would spend cooking, shopping, eating, and cleaning. That time should be dedicated to more prayer instead. Confucius said that when the day is dark and dreary and the way is hard to find, do not let your heart be worried. It is better to light a candle than to stand in the darkness. So, the candle's flame of hope and the flame of prayer will always be with you, and it will grow. Any language, prayer is prayer. Any language, love is love. Any language, God is God. Duality exists in the human mind, and this duality creates division among humans. That is why there are wars: religious wars, economic wars waged using religion, political wars, oil wars, water wars, oxygen wars—many more will come. How do they achieve this? They exploit the humility and kindness of people in the name of God and religion. People are innocent; they believe and are manipulated with such words. They use words to touch a sensitive point, and that sensitive point brings conflict over religion, culture, tradition, and ancestors. They divide: your place, my country, my people. "Now we believe this, we are this, and we want to have this." That is how people are divided and manipulated. Every politician needs a vote bank. It does not matter who you are or what you are; they need your vote to come into power. You are the vote bank for them. At election time, they will be kind and nice. A politician may come to your home, have a cup of tea, and talk, and you will think, "Wow, this is such a good person." But when he or she wins the election, and you call to ask, "Can I visit?" the reply is, "Sorry, I have no time." You cannot even get through on the telephone; someone is sitting in a friend's room who does not let the call through. When will you see that person face-to-face again? At the next election, they will say, "Oh, yes, I'm sorry. I did not know. I didn't get the message. I was very busy at meetings, or I was not here. My secretary perhaps forgot, but I... Never forget, always when I drive by, I say, 'You have my friend's house.'" This is called selfishness for the time being, and then it is gone. But spiritual relation, brotherhood, remains forever. God incarnates and comes for those simple people. God brings that love, God brings that oneness, humility, and kindness. Remembering this, and as I taught in the satsaṅg just now—you all were present—the best yoga, the best spiritual path for the development of spirituality and for self-realization (ātma-jñāna) is satsaṅg. What is the Bhagavad Gītā? It is a dialogue between master and disciple: Kṛṣṇa as the master (guru) and Arjuna as the disciple. What is the Bible? The Bible is also called the Gospel of Master and Disciple. Who was the Guru? The Master, Jesus. And who was the disciple? His disciples. Guru Vakya—the Guru speaks. Jesus said, "Believe me, I am the way to God. What I tell you will give you self-realization." But he never said, "Only me forever." Now, pure-hearted people are drawn to him. They say, "Yes, Jesus said, 'Only I am the way.'" So only he is the way; no other is the way. The process becomes blocked. The continuity of spirituality that leads you into cosmic unity is that spirituality where you meet a personality who is called the guru or master. Otherwise, there is darkness again. When the sun sets, you must turn on a light. Consider Ravīndranāth Ṭhākur (Tagore), who won the Nobel Prize in poetry long ago. At sunset, he was standing on the bank of the Gaṅgā in Calcutta, watching the sunset. As an artist, philosopher, and poet, one always thinks differently according to one's profession. When you go for a walk or stand and look somewhere, your perspective is shaped by your work. One day, a man was looking intently, and I was on the street. I asked, "What are you looking at?" He said, "I am looking at the design of these windows in London." I said, "What? But you have seen many." He replied, "Yes, in every street I go, I look. All windows have the same size." You see, in much of old London, one architect designed many buildings. You can go to a market and say, "I need a front window for the left side of my house." You do not need to get measurements; everything is the same size. You only need to know the house number, otherwise you cannot tell which house is yours. It is like when your beautiful Jaguar is in a showroom or a used car lot, cleaned and washed with the license plate removed. How do you know which car is yours? You have your key. You press the button, and your car signals, "Come to me," with blinking lights. So, when you go to certain parts of London, all houses are unique and built wall-to-wall. Every window is similar, making it hard to distinguish. Now, all philosophers think according to philosophy. An engineer thinks according to engineering. So Ravīndranāth Ṭhākur, standing there with his long beard, looking at the sunset, began a dialogue with the sun. He asked the sun, "Why are you sad? Who said you are sad?" The sun replied, "Well, Mr. Tagore, I am sad for my children, all my friends here on earth. I gave them light and everything all day. Now my time has come; I am setting, and darkness is coming. I am sad because I have no successor who can illuminate the night." The sun added, "The same thing will happen with you, my dear. When you are old and have many houses and properties, you will say, 'I have no children. What will happen to my house, my beautiful flat in Brisbane, my big...' Or, with a different profession, I also think, 'How will it be? Will my successor have the same love for all my devotees?' I never tell my devotees, 'You are a bad person, go away,' even though devotees sometimes fight among themselves, crying, 'This and that,' calling each other terrible. What do I say? Yes, it will be better, God. I pray to Mahāprabhujī: my Lord, you gave me this work, and I brought your light to different parts of the world. Please bless some soul, some saint, who will carry this light forward with guru bhakti." Nowadays, in Kali Yuga, a disciple often wants to be like the guru, and the guru is expected to provide everything for the disciples. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore is also known as a Gurudev. The sun said, "Who? I do not know. I have no successor." At that minute, as the sun was just setting—half still visible—a bell rang in a Śiva temple. Ravindranath looked toward the temple and saw the pūjārī, the priest, lighting a ghee lamp for pūjā. Ravīndra Dāda Tagore then said to the sun, Sūrya Nārāyaṇa: "This flame says, 'I cannot be the sun, but I will try to give light. I cannot replace you as the sun, but I will keep the light. Those who come near, I will give them light.'" Similarly, we cannot be that Kṛṣṇa. We cannot be that Rāma, Śiva, or Brahmā. We cannot be Devapurījī and Mahāprabhujī. We try to keep this gentle light in the palms of our hands. With one hand, we protect the flame of our devotees' spiritual light. Sometimes, devotees themselves blow out that flame. They carry it carefully, and then the flame is extinguished. What does that mean? You make a "cha" sound, and the flame is blown out. That is vikṣepa, that is a kleśa. Before you sneeze or cough, you know it is coming, and you are told to turn your face away. When negative vṛttis (mental fluctuations) come, turn your face to the other side, throw the negative energy there, and protect the light of spirituality. Like a mother with a young child—just one day old, one month, two months, three months—walking through rain, snow, or a cold storm. She will face the water and cold on her own body but will carry her child protectively, sheltering it. Is that not so? That spiritual light is your child that must grow within you. And we learn this in satsaṅg. Sat means truth, and saṅgh means to be with those who embody it. Especially, pray and love your enemy. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said in the 12th chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā—the chapter on devotion, Bhakti Yoga. According to the Bhagavad Gītā, there are eighteen steps of yoga. In Rāja Yoga, there are only four: karma, bhakti, rāja, and jñāna. But Kṛṣṇa clearly divided and modified the philosophy of yoga into eighteen steps across eighteen chapters, where the entire philosophy of human existence is given for how to become successful. "If not this, then that." The Bhagavad Gītā is one of those books. You can read the same mantra every day and gain new knowledge, new wisdom, because that wisdom is within you. These are the words of the great incarnations and saints. Śabda, the wisdom, the Word. Who gave us this one word called "love"? Every day you discover a new meaning of love. Every time, millions of different creatures—countless creatures, even a tiny ant running here and there—seek love. We, too, struggle for love. We love money, our car, our house, our horse, our dogs, our bed, many things. We are searching for love. Who gave us this word "love"? What power has been placed in this one word, "love"? Everyone utilizes love. Everyone enjoys love. Everyone shares love. But love does not diminish. That is wisdom. That is truth. Therefore, it is said: God is love, and love is God. Because you cannot minimize God, you cannot diminish God, who always exists. Who dies? The body dies. The mind dies. Love never dies. Love never dies. If you understand love, if you dedicate your word to your love, love will never die, my dear. No matter what happens. When cruelty comes, suffering follows. Why? Because you have placed love on one side. Keep love in your heart, and then take your gun and go to the battlefield. You will not be able to shoot the person. So, there are many things given by great wise people, saints, and philosophers. Or consider happiness. We all struggle to be happy. We all obtain happiness, but happiness does not become smaller. No one tells us to hurry because a time will come when there will be no happiness left. What would we do? So, we should take happiness and preserve it in our storeroom, accumulating more and more. Happiness, love, joy, freedom, and bliss—these are given by God freely to everyone. You have them. Use them or lose them. If you are unhappy, it is your own ignorance. Part 2: The Eternal Light Within If you are angry or disappointed, it is your own. So love never dies. That is the evidence. Evidence will never die. And that is God, and that God is everyone. If a little ant enjoys the love when she finds a piece of sugar, you know what her happiness is? She holds the piece of sugar in her mouth, and both ears go slightly, you know, and she is walking. Oh my God, the little ant becomes her majesty. You can create happiness in a small child; in your hand, you give a little toy, and immediately happiness is shining. How easily you can give happiness. So don’t try to create unhappiness, and it is said, "Yeh din bhī calā jāyegā, yeh din bhī calā jāyegā"—this day will also pass. There was a great queen, Madhalsa, in Indian history, and when she married, she made one saṅkalpa and prayed to God, "All my children who will be born through my womb, I will give them that self-realization so that the soul will not need to go again anymore into another womb." And when she got a child, she taught Brahma Vidyā. When the child was in the body, when she was pregnant, she used to speak with the child, "You are a Brahman, you are an Ātmā, you are divine, you are light, you are happiness, you are love, you are joy," giving instructions that influence the subconsciousness of the child. And when the child was born, she taught them, and they all went to the forest and became great ṛṣis. The king asked his queen, "You gave everyone such knowledge that they all went and became sanyāsīs or ṛṣis. Who will take care of the kingdom? Now your and my time is gone. You have to prepare and teach the knowledge of governing the kingdom." And she taught the science of ethics. Ethics were created by ṛṣis, and politics is a symbol or philosophy of the ethics. Don’t think that politics is bad. Mahātmā Gandhījī said in his life book, what he wrote, "The Experiment of the Truth." Lastly, what he is writing: if one thinks that politics and religion cannot go together, it means he or she either doesn’t know what politics is or doesn’t know what religion is. You cannot separate them, because they are both politics and religion; they are colored in oneness, in love. To whom? To all. That time was that ethic. So she taught her son, and when the son was only 15 or 16 years old, she and her husband gave him the kingdom, and they went. They said, "Now our time is gone to renounce, and we will go to some caves and meditate." The young child said, "Mother, if I am ever unhappy, how will I send you a message? Can you give me your address? Or I will be very happy and have some event to celebrate. How will I invite you or send you a message?" She said, "Yes, my son, I give you my address. I give you what you want." And she gave him one ring, and in the ring, inside was written: "This will also pass away. This will also go away." So he said, "Mother, what does this mean?" She said, "When you are unhappy, then come to mother’s lap. And these are the words of your mother, 'Yeh bhī chalā jāyegā.' This sorrow, this pain, these troubles also will pass away. Now prepare for happiness. And sometimes, when you will be very happy and overjoyed, look to the ring, because you want to run to the mother and say, 'Mother, mother, how happy I am.' This is my answer, dear, yeh bhī chalā jāyegā." So yeh din chale jāyeṅge, aur hum bhī chale jāyeṅge. But those who stay behind, how will they live? This day will pass, we will pass. But who will stay behind? How will they live? They will stand with empty hands, thinking that my parents or my Gurudev didn’t give me that wisdom. So you have to listen. So there are many prayers, many ways to be happy. And so our dear holy Gurujī said in this bhajan, "The best to purify the karma, the Deepa Niranjana Sabaduka Banjan." Prabhu Dīpa Nirañjana Sīmā. O Vemana Manjana Śrī Dīpa Nirañjana. Mahāprabhū Deepā, the incarnation, divine incarnation, Bhagavān Śrī Deepā Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī. And Holy Gurujī said this mantra: Prabhu Dīpā Nirañjan, Prabhu Bhūmaṇḍal. Bhūmaṇḍal, this is called our earth. On this earth, which incarnation comes? Nirguṇa says, "Saguṇa banāī." From the nirguṇa, they come, manifest themselves in the form of saguṇa. Form leads to form. Where? On this earth. So, who is coming to this Bhū-maṇḍala? We call Prabhu, Parabrahma incarnated on this Bhū maṇḍala. That is the light of God, Deep. That pure cosmic light descended on this planet in the form of Bhagavān Śrī Deep Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī. This mantra, this Nema, Prabhudeep Niranjan Śabdak Bhañjan, removes all the trouble, all the pain. Yes, the experiences of 78 years of our beloved Satguru Dev Swami Madhavānandajī. He practiced his mantras, you can say, in the last 20 years, day and night. Though he was sleeping, still his mālā was moving in his hands. Gurujī’s tapasyā, Gurujī’s devotion, and Gurujī’s wisdom; Gurujī’s bhajans, Gurujī’s appearance, and Gurujī’s radiance. My God, like a sun, the light has come. So, Holy Gurujī, he repeats this mantra, and he tells us this: what is that? Through this mantra, your mind will be purified. All the negative thoughts, all the negativity, all the dirt will be washed away. All will be enlightened. What is in the darkness will be enlightened. Prabhudeep Niranjan Sabduk Bhanjan Ishi Mantra Se Hove Maha Manmanjan Herde Kamal Ki Aakhe Kul Jave. It opens the eye of your heart. What is that? Mercy. Holy heart. When the people asked Hanumanjī, "You always said, 'My God is in my heart,' can you show us?" And Hanumanjī tears his chest, and what’s inside? Rāma and Sītā both are sitting in the heart. That’s a holy heart, and the same thing, Jesus gave his holy heart. Every incarnation is doing the same thing. Hanumanjī was a great incarnation. He was a Śiva. Once Shiva comes in service to Vishnu, and once Vishnu comes in service to Shiva. Hṛde kamal kī āṅkh kul jāve jo ḍāle nīta nemā kā añjan. If you put the ointment of this mantra, this name, this mantra, as ointment in your heart, then practice your mantra from the heart. Hṛde kamal kī āṅkh kul jāve. This mantra you should practice. You can drive a car, practice, and sing. What happens when I open the eye of the heart? Viśvadīpa jyoti urme jāge... Abhayapada Pave Kateshava Vandana, Yabhayapada Kateshava Vandana, Sridipa. In your heart, the cosmic light will awake. Which cosmic light? Light of God, light of knowledge, light of wisdom. In every heart, God lives. The light of God is in every heart. But my adoration to that heart in which this Viśvadīp Jyoti awakes and speaks to us. That is adorable. Sabbandhan abhaya padh. Padh means position. Padh means the level of the consciousness. Abhaya means fearless, not scared. Let them say what they say. Let them talk what they want. Let him write what he writes. You email, SMS, anything. Those who will throw dust on the sun, all will fall on their own head. Do not let anything touch you, because you are a light outside the darkness. And now, darkness has made a union, what? They said, "We will go and attack the light and make all darkness there." And the light is there, a little tiny light flame. Now, the whole union of the darkness is coming through the door in and disappeared. Where are they? Can’t touch the light. So when this cosmic light awakes in your heart, viśva dīp, jyoti urme jāge. Viśva is the universe, dīp is the light, jyoti is the big light, urme, urme is the heart, jāge means awakening. Abhay padpave, that person who got self-realization is not scared of the immortality. Kattesab bandhan, bandhan means all the bandages of the saṃsāra, then you are free, nirākāra, nirañjanam. What happens then? Put off your computers, two-two you can take. Thousand photos, but don’t make 2-2. Graha gochar kā tāp nahīṁ lāge, gochar kā tāp nahīṁ lāge. Bhūta pretakā bhāge, saba pāṇḍanā, bhūta pretakā bhāge, saba pāṇḍanā. Śrī dīpa nirañjana, prabhu dīpa nirañjana. It means the influence of different planets, they will not disturb you. Yes, it will have some kind of effect on you, but it will not disturb you. Because the Viśva Dīpa Jyoti is with you, the darkness cannot come. No troubles from that side. Bhūta is the ghost. Preta is the spirit. If there are negative energies, ghosts, and this and that, they will not come to you. They will always remain outside, like darkness outside. Try to come in, into this hall. And there is a light, and that doesn’t trouble us at all. So, bhūta, preta, all go there, where those who have negative energy, who have negative thoughts, who begin to destroy something and talk badly about others, then this means already Rāhu, Ketu and Śani. They attack that person to destroy. How? Tulsidājī said in Rāmāyaṇa, when the negative constellation will attack you, then you have viparīta buddhi. Viparīta means opposite. What you were doing always, now you turn to the other direction to that, because now the troubles are waiting for you, my dear. Like a cat is waiting behind the door for the mouse, the mouse is enjoying going in the kitchen and this piece of bread, and... There is chocolate and this and that. When a cat is waiting and looking, let him enjoy a little, anyhow. This big chocolate will also go into my stomach. And so, that is bad luck, because you turned opposite. You began to criticize the things, and this will destroy you. So bhūta pretaka bhageśava pāṇḍan, all these troubles go away. Sri-dīpa-nirañjana, prabhu-dīpa-nirañjana. Vichala sukha-pāve brahmānandaṁ, avichala sukha-pāve brahmānandaṁ. Sri-dīpa-niravidi, dīpa-niravidi, dīpa-niravidi,... The mantra, the physical, the mental, and the astral attacks of the other creatures, the mental problems, and the... Astral, the illnesses, you are protected from all these, and after this life, you are in the Niranjana, in purity. Is he mantra? Say, "Ho, a man, a man, young deep Niranjan, sabha dukkha banjana." Read this: "Siddhi, Sukha, Sampati Pave, Nama Sumaran Se Kaya Hove Kanchan." Nāma Sumaraṇa Se Kāya Hove Kañcana Śrī Dīpa Nirañjana Saha. 2. Siddhis are perfections, and riddhis are what we call the wealth, prosperity, not a wealth. Prosperity means not only material, but the prosperity has many, many other aspects: happiness, health, and so on. Exactly, Hṛddhiśiddhi words I will explain to you perhaps next time; I have to find exactly the sense. Riddhi Siddhi Sukh Sampati Pave. Sukha means happiness, and Sampati means prosperity or harmony in life. Through this mantra, "Riddhi Siddhi Sukh Sampati Pave, Nama Sumaraṇa Se Kāya Hove Kañcan," even our body becomes pure and free from many diseases, becoming Kañcan, like gold. Though the body has five elements, we will have some vikāras, we will be ill, and so on. But in this body is that divine soul, that spiritual, enlightened soul, and that is radiating through this body. That is indescribable. So, regularly disciplined at the particular time. If you will repeat this, make your five mālās. It doesn’t take a long time. You see, five minutes go so quickly. With your friends, you telephone and hang on the telephone longer than this, so that time goes so quickly. And then you say, "Oh, my telephone bill is so high," but how many minutes did you talk? Not long. You look, it was 56 minutes, and in this 56 minutes you can do 11 mālās. Oṁ prabhu dīpa nirañjana śabdok bhañjana... Oṁ Prabhu Dīpa Nirañjana Śabdoka Bhañjana. How many? Thousands go, or slowly sing: "Prabhu dīpa nirañjana śabdoka bhañjana, Prabhu dīpa nirañjana śabdoka bhañjana." If you will practice discipline, then you will have darśana of Mahāprabhujī, darśana of Devapurījī. You will have darśana of your ātmā, that’s what we call ātma-sākṣātkāra. Self-realization means you see your Ātmā. And when you become self-realized, at that time, Devī, Devatā, Kāreśa Vandana, at that time all the different goddesses, they will adore you. When you appear in the universe, they will throw flowers for you, bow down, and greet you because you are that divine Ātmā already manifested on this earth as a mortal being. And from mortal, you realize the immortal. What a beautiful. And this is hard work, my dear. It will not be done by next week. You have to practice and follow the disciplines in living, in eating, in drinking, in sleeping, in walking, in talking, in writing, and in thinking and acting, and what not. So turn life in the other direction. It’s not difficult. Just give the back gear. Turn your car from the right direction again to the right direction. Your GPS will say again, "Counting, new counting. Calculating, new calculating." So when you change your spiritual path, then a new calculation comes for your karma, and you have no more time. Maybe by turning back, accidents happen. Therefore, be on the right track. That is a Gurudev who shows you the path. Do not change your altar again and again in your heart, and do not change your opinion always. Do not let darkness come in your actions. And... Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī is immortal light, immortal eternal light. He is merciful. Deep Dayālā, a merciful one. Akhanda Ujala, the unbreakable, it means everlasting, immortal light. Bali Bali Jao Chandan Nandan, my adoration to him again and again. To whom? The son of Chandan Devī, who is the Holy Mother. Her name was Chandan Devī. So Bali Bali Jao Chandan Nandan, O Holy Mother, my adoration to thee and to thy godly son. Śrī Mādhavānanda ke ānanda bhaya bhārī, Śrī Mādhavānanda ke ānanda bhaya bhārī. Śrī Mādhavānanda Śrīdipani ranjana sabadhu, pravdipani ranjana sabadhu, Hove man manjan sridipani ranjana sabadhu Dev Narayan Bhagwan. Our universally perceived Satguru Dev Swami Madhavanandaji said, "Madhavanandaki Anandbhaya Bhaari." Bhaarī means immense. Holy Gurujī said, "Ānand, I got immense of Ānanda. Which one? How?" While repeating and repeating this mantra, I attained the highest position in Brahman. Brahmanan, the bliss of the Brahman. So, my dear, purifying of the karma is not so difficult. Just dare to jump into the river and clean all your dirt. The river is flowing here, and that water where you dip in is not anymore here, it is gone. You cannot dip twice, only once in that river, in that water. You go, dive in and out. The water is gone. You can’t anymore say, "I want to again jump in the same water." New water will come. So this is diving into this saṃsāra. You dive in, you burn, and again you will come out, gone. Samsara is gone. Next time, he knows in which life you will come. So enjoy, take the opportunity, and bathe in spirituality. Wish you all the best, and I pray to Mahāprabhujī to bless you.