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As previously announced, Swāmījī may join via Skype at one o’clock. He is currently in New Zealand. He just finished giving satsaṅg at 10 o’clock and said he would return to his residence and try to call from there. Accordingly, we will shorten this program so everyone can finish lunch and be back here by one o’clock. So, it is a program in two halves, with lunch in between while you sing that bhajan. The Kriyā Anuṣṭhāna participants should also be here at one o’clock. Depending on the length of Swāmījī’s satsaṅg and what unfolds, we will announce the afternoon program afterward. The program will not be at one-thirty. Leave the Kriyā Anuṣṭhāna materials in the hall for now; it will take place after Swāmījī’s satsaṅg. The last day of the previous group was discussing a śloka from the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, and it reminded me of something; this bhajan came to mind. In that śloka, it says the Supreme is within us. That light, that Paramātmā, is within. We should try to extract it very gently, like trying to extract the inside from a type of grass. I don't know the English word. You know, there is thick grass that grows at the edges of rivers. Inside, it has a soft part you can take out if you peel it. So, you should extract that inner self like taking that inner part out of the grass. For me, the whole image is that if you pull too hard, it will break. If you pull too softly, it won't come out. That force must be very steady, constant, and not sharp. It is like trying to remove something stuck under your skin. If you pull too fast, some will remain inside. So, for me, the mind goes slow. Take it slow. This whole process is not to be done overnight, nor does it happen by force. It happens through the consistency of our practice, by slowly increasing its intensity. I think everyone has, at some stage, experienced trying to go too fast too soon and then dropping the practice. More important than how much we do is how regularly we do it. For those now doing the Anuṣṭhāna, your experience over the days is the building up of the effect. Whatever sādhanā you have, as you do it for weeks and weeks, strength comes from within it. Whatever type of anuṣṭhāna it is, in our daily lives, our practice must be something practical we can do every day. That part of the grass is hard, and then stopping, and then jerking again. As far as I understand what that Upaniṣad is saying, it makes little sense if you pull out only a little bit; you have to pull the whole thing out as one. According to how I understand this verse from the Śāstra, the meaning is that it makes sense to pull it out completely; it makes no sense to pull it only halfway. It requires a certain consistency in the effort. There is one sūtra in Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtras about how to practice throughout the day. Many of you may know this sūtra: "Maitrī Karuṇā Mudito Upekṣāṇāṁ Sukha Duḥkha Puṇya Apuṇya Viṣayāṇāṁ." It talks about how our attitude should be towards everything in our life. First, it says friendliness towards those who are happy. That sounds logical, of course; you would be friendly to someone who is happy. But actually, the root of our jealousy is when we are jealous of someone else who is happy. Many issues arise from seeing someone who has something you wish you had, and the jealousy that follows, rather than being happy that the person is happy. The first śloka implies that if you can see this whole world as one, that we are all one—that we are all just this one Brahman, this one energy, whatever you call it—then where is the basis for jealousy? If Gajananjī is drinking water, I am drinking water. We are drinking water. No, I am not thirsty; I have also. If someone is happy, we are also part of that happiness because we are part of that same one. If someone has something in one way, we also have it because we are all part of that same one. Of course, it is not so easy to put that into practice and realize it. The Upaniṣad goes on to give alternatives for when you cannot get your head around that, when you cannot comprehend it. Then it talks about doing sevā and being selfless, etc. But when we see someone happy, if we can be friendly and happy for them, it is an attitude that makes things much easier. Then, towards those who are sad, to have compassion. This can also be difficult at times. If you see someone you do not particularly like, and they are suffering, that compassion may not come. It is sad. Perhaps the conscience will not wake up. But we should cultivate conscience towards all who are sad and not equally happy. The next is to have joy towards anything good that has been done. And to be indifferent, to somehow keep distance from those things which are done that are not auspicious, not good, not pure. Patañjali says to keep your friendliness towards those thoughts inside you which are positive, happy, and pure. And towards those things within you which are negative or sad, not to reject them but to have compassion towards them, even within yourself. If you reject or try to push them away, you have no basis to work out why they are happening or what they are. If you can look at your own issues with compassion, when something comes up during practice, look not at the thought or action as negative, but consider there must be a reason why it is occurring. With compassion towards yourself, you can search for that reason. For me, this is also the same as trying to pull out this grass. If we try to cut our negative thoughts rather than observe them, try to repress or stop them from happening, that is also a way the grass breaks. We lose contact with ourselves. The last quality is to have indifference, to not get involved. There is a significant difference between being compassionate towards our negative thoughts, observing them, and getting involved in them and having a party with them. Observation comes with a little distance. In our culture in India, in our school, when the relationship between teachers and students becomes too close, it stops functioning. If the children need to be controlled or disciplined, if there is too much friendliness, the students just do not react. The same applies to these qualities within ourselves that we are trying to transform. Yes, we observe them. Yes, we are compassionate towards them. But we must not come into a relationship where we are too close to them. At the end of that sūtra, Patañjali uses one word I have seen translated in several ways. In some translations, it says to see all those things which come—those four different types—to see them as a prasād. Yes, prasād. You know what prasād is. They are somehow what comes to us; they are things we have to work with. For me, if you can see it like that, it makes a very big difference in your attitude towards those issues. Because then, those things which come to you as problems, as troubles, are, in one way, a gift. If you can deal with them with the attitude Patañjali describes, they become the most fertile ground for your spiritual development. At the same time, they can be very difficult and extremely hard; they can try to pull you down at all times. But in the sūtra, Patañjali is saying to cultivate that attitude. When we started organic gardens in Jhadan, nothing was coming out. On every other farm around, they were using chemical fertilizer, and huge plants were growing. But our soil had very little śakti, very little energy, because for years, nutrients had been taken out and not put back. Now, over many years, with so much natural fertilizer, cow dung, and other things put in, that same soil is full of energy. It took years to cultivate it, years to transform it. But over the years, you can see that transformation taking place and the soil changing. It is the same with these qualities; they do not change in us overnight, or in weeks, months, or years. This is our lifetime work and cultivation. Cultivation occurs season after season after season. So, I think we must always be patient with that, but we must continuously remind ourselves of the practices we have to do. And then, as said in the Upaniṣad, very, very slowly pull that center out of the grass. Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai! Śrī Śrīdeva Puruṣa Mahādeva Kī Jai! Dharamsamrāta Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Māravānanda Purujī Mahārāja Kī Jaya! Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Maheśvara Purūjī Satguru Deva Kī Jai! One more bhajan. Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai! Śrī Devaśvara Mahādeva Kī Jai! Somehow, the kitchen managed. Lunch is ready. I think they had to do some mantra to tell the vegetables to cook quicker. So, if we can go now for eating, please be back here at one o’clock. Śrī Dīpanārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya Satguru Dev Kī Jaya.