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You can go into your garden and every day put out a little bread flour or chapati flour, perhaps with a little sugar, under a bush. The creatures will eat it; they will get something in their stomach. They will not bless you or say thank you, but their stomach will thank you. To give food to hungry persons or hungry creatures is a releasing of our karma, a purification. Or, feed the birds on your balcony or in your garden. Here in Queensland, you have very good nature, and birds have enough to eat, but still, sometimes they like certain seeds you can put out. They will sing a song for you. They will dance for you. There are times when you don't feed them and are late; they come and knock on your window. This is a purification of karma if we have taken food away from someone. We do not know from where we get our food, so we share it. You don't have animals anymore here in your big cities around the world. But our mothers in the villages, still now and before—I remember very well. We were little children, hungry and waiting for mother to cook. Mother would begin to cook. We were waiting: who would get the first chapati? We mostly had chapati. It sounds funny, but I must tell you this beautiful story. We, two or three brothers and sisters, all waited—who would get the first chapati? I said I would because I was the youngest, but that point is ever debatable. When mother made the chapati dough, there was also dry flour. First, what she did was take this dry flour, say some mantras, and offer it into the fire, the yajña. Now we don't have fire here; we have a gas flame or electricity. Things changed. So I asked, "Why, Mother, are you doing this?" She said, "Yes, Agni Dev. First we have to offer this to Agni Dev, and we have the same Agni Dev in our stomach, the digestive fire." In the Bhagavad Gītā, the 15th chapter speaks a beautiful mantra you should read, in which you chant: "Brahmārpaṇaṁ Brahma Haviḥ, Brahmāgnau Brahmaṇā Hutam, Brahmaiva Tena Gantavyaṁ Brahma-Karma-Samādhinām." Beautiful. So brahmāgno, this fire is Brahman, the highest. Brahmagno, brahmanahutam, giving ahuti, offering to this. And whose offering is also Brahman? Your ātmā. And the act of this Brahman will lead to the highest samādhi. So renounce and enjoy. The Buddha’s principle was that every time he went to get food, he called the Bhikṣu monks. In many Asian countries, Buddhist monks still go for food. It was the tradition that if no one came to your door for food, the whole family was unhappy, and they would not eat the whole day. They said, "God, what mistake have we done that no one came to my door?" Such feelings people had. Many would not eat until they saw a monk and gave him food. Some would not eat until they saw the morning sun rising, the darśana of Sūrya Nārāyaṇa. Days and days they did not eat. This is a tapasyā for humans, a purification of certain karma. Then she rolled the chapati. The first chapati was not for me. That first chapati was for the dog. We did not have dogs as house pets inside but in the street. They belonged to all. It was everyone’s duty to feed them. So the first chapati went to the dog. What was more interesting was that she gave me this chapati, and I thought, "Oh, I will eat." She said, "Go and feed the dog first." I had to go and give my chapati to the dog. The second one would be for me. And some was ready. Mother said, "No, this is for the cow." The bull used to come every day at a particular time to our door and got one chapati. Yes, then it was for us to eat. This is excellent and practical to clean certain karma. As Mahātmā Gandhījī said, "Renounce and enjoy." Whatever karma we cause, we have to renounce something for that. In a normal household, there are five places where, consciously or unconsciously, we harm some tiny creatures. They have a life, and we should not kill them. These five places are: the fire (your cooking oven), the water, the grinder, the broom, and the place where you crush things, like crushing water and pesam. These are the five sins we call, and these five sins affect you as a khanuk. To become free, we didn't do it purposely. That was our life. We have to drink water and wash our hands. We have to cook. We have to clean our bathrooms and rooms. If you didn't grind your chapati flour or bread flour, it was already ground. You become a part of it because you bought it and will eat it. So you become a part of that karma. It is not only the butcher or slaughterer who is killing animals who will get all that karma. It will be shared by all: who was growing and breeding the animals, who was selling, who transferred, who was killing, who is selling again, who is buying, and who will eat. More karma goes to the stomach where the food goes. We cannot escape; we are always part of it. These five are very gentle: the pañca, the apāna, they are the same. The ṛṣis said, "You have five fingers." Take something with the five fingers and give it to poor people, poor animals, or hungry creatures. Give something. Use your hands and fingers to give. Great Kabīr Dās said in his bhajans, "Do not have attachment. Believe in the name of God." He described the limbs of the body and said, "God gave you the hands to give something." Give, give. Tulsī Dājī said, "Tulsī kar par kar kar." Put your hand above the hand of the needy one. "Tulsi kar par kar kar, par kar kar na kar." Do not become a beggar. Whoever wants more and more is a beggar. "Tulsī kar par kar kar, par kar kar na kar, tā din par kar kar, tā din maraṇ kar." On the day you become like a beggar, it is like a death for you. This is purification of karma. Yesterday I spoke about the three guṇas and the three qualities: vāta, pitta, kapha. This is also a karmic reaction on our body. Therefore, in Āyurveda, they tell you that because you have Vāta, Pitta, or Kapha, they give you a particular diet. Really, it will help you. What does that mean? It will remove your karma. Which karma? Ādhibhautik, Ādhidaivik, Ādhyātmik. These three kinds of karma attack you. Similarly, in the morning, get up and do one pūjā for those mental negative actions you did without knowing. When we don't know, all we did was out of our ignorance. This is a darkness. We are sinking day by day in the darkness. How to purify those actions we mentally did—blackmailing, talking negative, and many things? That is a morning pūjā. Every morning when you get up and see the sun, first go and wash yourself clean, have a shower, and so on. Then take a water kalesh (water pot) and look to the sun. Mostly ladies do it for the whole family and for the husband, because the lazy husband is still sleeping. But men should also do it. You will often see in India pictures and films of the Ganges and different rivers where a man goes, stands in the water, takes it, and offers it. People say they take water from the river and put it back in. What does it mean? It means great. It means now he or she became aware of those karmas or sins, and prayers purify. There is a beautiful mantra to purify karma in the morning. This mantra, which many of you know, is called the Gāyatrī Mantra. You may stand in the ocean—you have beautiful beaches—go till the water is at your knees, where it is not so cold. Take the water, look to the sun, and offer: "Oṁ Bhūr Bhuvaḥ Svaḥ Tat Savitur Vareṇyaṁ Bhargo Devasya Dhīmahi Dhiyo Yo Naḥ Pracodayāt," five times. Or you can chant the twelve names of the sun. These twelve names correspond to the twelve hours. Every hour, the sun has a different position, energy, and mind. "Oṁ Sūryāya Namaḥ, Oṁ Bhānavāya Namaḥ, Oṁ Pūṣṇāya Namaḥ, Oṁ Bhāskarāya Namaḥ," and so on. All twelve names. Do it. Not only is hidden negative karma purified, but it will improve your health condition: sound, light, imagination, vision, and feelings. This will influence your four tattvas, the elements: fire, water, air, and earth. It means purification of your body, mind, and emotions, like a beautiful, blue, clear sky. Many people do morning puja to the Tulasī plant. You take a little water and pray to the Tulasī plant: "Oṁ Bhūr Bhuvaḥ Svaḥ Tat Savitur Vareṇyaṁ..." or other mantras. Morning and evening, you put a dīpak, a light oil lamp or ghee lamp—a candle that is not made from petrol but is organic—and put agarbatti. The Tulasī plant has two meanings. One, it has very high medical value, which is why it is highly protected; it was disappearing. Second, Tulsī is a holy saint. It appears in mantras and prayers. In the Mahāśiva Purāṇa, Tulasī is described, but I will not go into the whole story. Another purification of our karmas is the three tapas: Ādhibhautik, Ādhidaivik, and Ādhyātmik. I suggest you read "The Hidden Powers in Humans," where all this is beautifully and nicely described with examples. Instead of reading too many newspapers and magazines, read first śāstras, authentic literature. "The Hidden Powers in Humans" will help you very much. To Shiva, you can do prayers in the morning or at noon. There are certain times for prayers. But our Satguru Dev Swami Madhavānandjī said for good things, the time is always good. For bad things, no time is good. Therefore, we can pray anytime. You have to be consistent in your prayers, with no compromise. In this respect, I must tell you that Muslims are very consequent and disciplined. At the given prayer time, it doesn't matter where they are; they will pray. At the airport, even in the airplane, they go to one side near the bathroom. It is a four-minute, three-minute prayer. They do not think, "Oh, what will people say?" They don't care because they are not doing bad things; they are praying. Therefore, you will see in almost every airport a prayer room. Inside, you will rarely see a Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, or Jew. But the Muslim brothers search for the prayer room and find it. That means they value their prayers. But do they understand what God is? If we do the discipline, our religion will also support us. Otherwise, not. "Dharmaḥ rakṣitaḥ rakṣitāḥ." If you protect and adore, respect your dharma, dharma will protect you. "Dharmo rakṣitaḥ rakṣitaha." Otherwise, not. We quit our prayers. We say, "Oh, tomorrow, okay, I'm going with someone. Can you do the prayer for me?" Guruji said certain things called Kheti, Priti, Prathānā. "Kheti, Priti or Prathana, put tane khujal, jo suk chahe prani, hato hat sambhal." It is beautiful. Khetī means farming. When you have farming, you should personally take care of your crops. Some people buy a big olive field and go once every five months to look at it. The workers will not make your company go to a high level; it will go down. You have to stand there. You have to look after your farm, ensure no wild animals destroy it. A farmer knows what farming means. You have to take care of your own small garden. Otherwise, there are many possums. You go for one weekend to meet a friend in Hawaii. You come back, and your entire garden is gone. Why? Because you were in Hawaii. So, Kheti: you have to take care personally. Kheti, Prithi. Prithi means love, which is also individual and personal. You say, "Tomorrow is my wedding appointment in the church, but I have a very important business meeting. I fly to Tokyo and will come back. You go and marry my wife, and when I come back, I will take her home." Can you do this? Personally, you have to do it. Khetī, Prīti, Prathānā. Prayers. Do not tell someone, "Please, you pray for me." You have to pray to God: Kheti, Priti, Prathana. The fourth is Puttane Khajāl. Itching on your back. You tell someone, "Please, can you scratch a little up, a little down, this side?" That person doesn't know exactly where it is. But your own hand will go automatically there, and you will scratch it. It will calm the itching. "To kheti, pṛthī, prathana, poota, talai, khunjal, jo sukha, chahai, prāṇī, hato, hata, sambhav." Similarly, your practice—your āsanas, prāṇāyāmas, meditation, relaxation, kriyā, mantras—you should personally do and never lose your devotion towards it. Maharṣi Patañjali said that an aspirant must have a devotion to the practice like a devotion to God. Many engineers, electronic engineers, or any field, they love their tools. Without tools, the hands are helpless. The best surgeon performing brain or heart surgery—for him, his tools are the best support. Similarly, your techniques are your support for self-realization. Do not neglect them. Therefore, it is said in the holy book Rāmāyaṇa—these are very practical instructions for us. Like Gurujī said, "Kheti Priti Pratana Purthaleku Jaan." There are four who tell you, "I love you, I am yours, you are mine." Very good. But in reality, are they yours? In difficult times, you can test if they are yours or not. First is dharma. "Dharma urakṣita rakṣitaha." Did you follow your dharma, your principles, your prayers? Dharma, dhīraj. Dhīraj is the most powerful tool of protection for you. Dhairya means when someone is shouting at you or something is going wrong, do not lose your nerve. Be patient. Wait. Dhairya. Dhīrya only the wise have. Do not lose your nerves immediately. Do not explode like corn on a hot pan becomes popcorn. Immediately it pops up. So if someone tells you something, you say, "No, it wasn't that." That means no dheriyā. There is one lady, a girl on the Sunshine Coast. She is a great bhakti, with children. She has a tattoo. I looked at it, and she has written "Dheriya." A very wise word. You should put it on your windows, doors, everywhere—dheriyā. In the kitchen also, when your husband comes home, you must write dheriyā. Okay, because maybe he is angry. So don't be angry again. You should not be angry. Dheriya is something great. It means calm, peaceful, and weight. You say, "No, I am always peaceful. I am okay." Yes, you are. You are very peaceful. But a certain time comes in life when suddenly you explode like popcorn on a hot pan. That is your test. If you are subconscious or unconscious, there are hidden negative energies. Dharma, dhīraja, mitra (friend). In very hard times, it is that friend who will be yours. Not only when you are beautiful and have money, and they say, "Yes, I love you. Hi, how are you? Let's go skiing." When you are in trouble, you find, "Hello, friend, yes, okay, but you know, I mean, hurry, I will call you after." There is no friendship. A friend is one who is ready to die with you. Dharma, dhīraja, mitra, arunārī (your wife or husband, your partner). When you marry, you say, "Yes, I promise in the presence of God I will be yours in every situation, if you are ill or this and that." Then one gets ill, paralyzed, and the other says, "I am sorry, but I am going to marry someone. Wish you all the best." One cannot say no or yes, but inside, that person is sad. You left that person. Your words, spoken in front of the guards, or the fire with the candle on the altar, or fire ceremonies like Hindus do—you did not keep them. That is the karma which will attract, attack, or go with you. Lives and lives it will return. There are many things we can do. Make prayers and mantras for different problems, as well as food therapy that also removes our karma. You call it here "cooking" or "vegetarian cooking." It should be according to our problems. The problem first attacks our astral body, emotional body, intellectual body, and then the physical. The food, solid or liquid, begins from the physical body, energy body, mental body, and subtle body. Then karma is purified. There are techniques, and you have to take care not to do it again. Once you drank poison or took many tablets because of a problem with your partner. Thanks to God, someone came to know, the ambulance came, and the doctor cleaned your stomach and blood. The doctor will tell you, "Never do this again." You say, "Yes, I will." You go home and do the same thing. Then what should the doctor do? We pray to God to forgive us. We have a personal consultation with God. When we pray, our mind is purified. When I went to the altar and prayed, my mind became lighter; otherwise, there was a burden on it. So you come to the water for Shivjī. You can have at home a small Śiva Liṅgam. Every morning, chant at least five times: "Oṁ Tryambhakaṁ Yajāmahe Sugandhiṁ Puṣṭivardhanam, Urvārukamiva Bandhanān Mṛtyormukṣīya Mā’mṛtāt." It doesn't take long. This addresses Ādhibhautik, Ādhidaivik, Ādhyātmik—the three tapas. These three tapas are troubles from the outer world, troubles as diseases attacking, and troubles from the inner world. These are the three kinds of fire disturbing us. Today, you learn three practical ways to clean our karma: one was with water, looking to the sun, giving water to the Tulasī or any plant. Resonance itself purifies our energy around the body. If you remember from the Gold Coast course, we learned a technique. We can do it now. Put your hands together on both hemispheres of your head, gently, don't press, and repeat after me. First I will chant, then you change after me. Feel the vibration on your head, from navel to the top of the head. I will chant first, then you. "Oṁ Tryambhakaṁ Yajāmahe Sugandhiṁ Puṣṭivardhanam, Urvārukamiva Bandhanān Mṛtyormukṣīya Mā’mṛtāt." Did you feel the vibration? This is how tensions release and positive energy enters our body, into our chakra systems, the energy centers. Each mantra of the chakras, the bīja mantra and the upa mantras, purifies that particular area of our body. When someone has a disease or difficulty in a certain part, concentrate, place your hand there or just feel and chant that mantra. "Man halkā ho jāyegā"—your mind will become lighter from all the burden. It means tensions are removed. Mantras written by great saints—they made experiments, understood, and then gave them to us. These are authentic mantras. So, theory and practice for the cleaning or purification of the rest will be in the evening. Wish you all the best, and God bless you. If you have any questions, 15 minutes are left. This then becomes an immortal plant. Let it be. But if it is somehow attacking something, of course you can cut it. In India, they have many different kinds of pūjā for the Tulasī plant. They also marry the Tulasī. If you have a Tulsi at home, after certain years you have to make a satsaṅg, you have to marry the Tulsi to Krishna or something like that. We don't want to do it. Our Tulsī is in Brahmacharya āśram.