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Good morning to everybody. Welcome. Happy to see you. You all have many greetings from Swāmī Jasrājpūrī Jī. I hope he is on the computer so he sees us. You had a nice program with him, and I am happy that you had a nice summer. Also, we are very happy that we have Swami Gajānandjī here, and also some from Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and so on. I did not know what I would speak about, but somehow it turned to the subject of Swamī. In the Bible, it is said you have to die to live, and Mahāprabhujī said, "Live, but like a dead, neither proud of siddhis nor proud of holiness." It is a life surrendered completely to Gurudev for the sake of service to this Mother Earth. When our dear Satguru Dev, Holy Gurujī, took sannyās, he asked his Gurujī, Mahāprabhujī, "What is my duty? In which way can I serve you?" Mahāprabhujī said, "To love and serve each entity is service to me." When we say, "I am seva to Gurudeva," what does it mean? It is not the seva to his or her physical embodiment, but to the entire being of the Gurudev. When Gurujī began his journey, Mahāprabhujī said, "Go and bring the divine message to the world." He was a little hesitant. Where will I go? Who will welcome me? Where will I sleep? To whom will I tell my problems? If I am ill, I need medicine or this and that. Mahāprabhujī said, "You have no faith?" He said, "Yes, I do have." Then, to whom belongs this body? "To thee, O my Lord." Then who are you to make sorrows about your body? Ill or healthy? Hungry or thirsty? When it belongs to me, I will take care. Whom should people welcome, you or me? "Say you, my Lord." Then why are you worried? So surrender. Whatever you have, it doesn't belong to you. This is the first rule to become a sannyāsī. You should not possess the wealth, otherwise you will fall into attachment. And that's why we have many, many ashrams, but not in an individual name. You think that all ashrams in India belong to Swamiji? No. Jaipur Ashram belongs to the Devapurījī Ashram Trust. Kailash Ashram belongs to Devapurījī Ashram Trust. Both ashrams in Kathu belong to Devapurījī Ashram Trust and Alagpurījī Siddhapīṭha. Nepal also belongs to Devpurījī Ashram Trust and Yoga and Daily Life Foundation. And the entire Jadan, Omashram, hospital, college, schools, Gaushala, temple, hostel—all belong to the Vishwadeep Guru Kulth organization and Shri Devpurījī Ashram Trust. So I am only giving service to that. And who am I that I can do? That would be my big ego. I am thankful to you all that you helped to make success, to make something for bhaktas. Those who traveled with me to Kailāsh Āśram in 1972, '73, '74, '80, '85, '90—the āśrams were small, and you had to go to the field for toilets. Now there is no field left. Sometimes when you were going behind the bush somewhere in the field, the children were running behind to see how the Europeans are making toilet. Some Germans were so angry. So all that we have done, this kind of construction, is for all of us and for the future, for those who will come. Gajanand, he's always angry with me, and he even left the Jadan ashram because he didn't want to stay there. Swamiji has built so many things, and now when he comes and gets a little bathroom and toilet, he's happy, but he thinks one toilet is enough. And what about others? Therefore, everything is done for all of us and future devotees. You do, but you have to renounce. It is said, "Diyā huā dān par tumhārā koī adhikār nahīṁ hai." When you give a donation, you have no rights on that anymore. It is given to you as a burden that you now have to take care of. If you utilize it for the well-being of the entire planet, then that will multiply for you as good karma. And when you utilize it for your personal thing, it will multiply all bad karmas, plus the troubles of the person who gave you something. So don't be happy to get a donation. When you get a donation, now you have a big burden, a big responsibility, because you have to multiply it for better things. You got one seed in your hand. Now you may see the corn seed, put it in your mouth, bite and eat it, but you cannot digest it. Karmically, you cannot digest it. Now, this one corn seed, you put it in the ground, cultivate it, take care, give fertilizer, water. There will be about half a kilo from one. That's it. So what you got, utilize in good things. There's a story. One master came to a small village, and after two, three days of satsaṅg, two disciples came. One was a very intellectual person, very clever and a businessman, and one was a very simple farmer. Both came to the master and said, "Master, we would like to become your disciple." The master said, "I will give you some work, some tests. If you pass, you will get a mantra. It is a five-year test. After five years, you will get the mantra. If you die, you will get the next life. And if I die, I will come back to give you the mantra. The master will always come." So he gave each one soya bean. He said, "Keep it with you. When I come back in two, three, four, five years, you have to give it back to me." So, one very gentleman, very clever, taking care of a lot of properties, put this soya bean in cotton and in a nice wooden box, and he put it somewhere in a drawer and locked it, and wrote, "Don't open." The farmer also took one, and the summer began. The farmer thought, now is the right time. So he put it in the ground, made a little fence round it, and took care of it. He harvested a handful, and he kept them. Next year again, the season came. So this half a kilo of beans, soya beans, he put it in a 100 square meter ground, and he got about 30 kilos. The master didn't come. So, the third season, with 30 kilos, he put it in two hectares, and he harvested nearly 500 kilos, or one ton. The master didn't come. The fourth year season came, so he had a lot of seed. He planted it in 100 hectares, or more than 100 hectares. He put the soya seeds, and he didn't utilize even 100 grams for his own eating, because it belongs to Gurudev. Now he had so many soybeans, he had to make a big storeroom, like our Sangaṃ Hall. With trucks, he filled it completely with soybeans. People were talking about it, "Crazy man. So much soya, and he doesn't sell. Why don't you sell it? Good market, very good market now for soya." He said, "My Gurudev said, 'Keep it.' It's not for selling and utilizing for me." Six years later, Guruji came and had a satsaṅg. Both disciples came. "Gurudev, can you give us a mantra?" At that time, people had a lot of time, and Gurujī also had time. Now, you come, you listen to one lecture, and you want to have a mantra, and tomorrow you want to practice. The day after tomorrow, you expect samādhi. It will not be. So they came back. Guruji said, "You remember? I gave you one soya seed. Bring it." The businessman took his car, the quicker car—a very quick one, and the car name was a very good name on it: Trabant. Only rich people drive the Trabant now. And he brought the box, even though he didn't open it. Gurudev said, "Here it is, open it, please." What did he see? Only the skin of the bean; a moth had developed, eaten the entire bean. Nothing, empty, there is no soya. "Oh, Gurudev, I kept it very safely, very careful. All, whatever one can make for security, I made all. It's not my mistake, Gurudev. Gurudev, it's your mistake. Why did you come so late? Whether you give the mantra or not, I don't care. But I don't want to be blamed that I didn't take care of your soya." Guruji said, "Wait." And now he asked the farmer. That businessman, very clever, very intelligent, intellectual, said, "Oh, this stupid farmer, he has so much soya harvesting. He will bring so many seeds. They have a lot." The farmer said, "Guruji, I cannot bring your soya. Why? It's out of my capacity. If you want to have a satsaṅg, come with me." Okay? He opened the door, and there were tons and tons of soya. "Gurudev, please take it, because I need my storeroom." So Gurujī said, "You are the right disciple." This is the point. Though you have many centers—we have Yoga and Daily Life, many, many centers around the world—if you utilize something for your own sake, for your own benefit, then sooner or later you will become empty. The dedication will become less and less, the devotion becomes less, and greed and selfishness grow. Then begins to sprout the negative vṛttis. And if someone wants to change you from the president's position to only the secretary position, or only as a normal member of the society, you become so angry inside. And you will say, "I want to destroy this all. Who are you?" It was not yours, and it cannot be yours, and it will always be others'. So this is Yoga in Daily Life. 99% of all our yoga teachers are doing service, and you know that many do not have a lot of income or money. And if we ask them, "We pay something for the train or the bus or something," they say no. Because they really would like to be the volunteer. Niṣkām Seva. Nothing can be compared to the Seva. There was always a problem between Mahātmā Gandhi and his wife. One day, Gandhijī came to his āśram, and his children were playing with some toys, balloons, and something. They came to Gandhiji. "Father, look, I have one balloon. I have this, I have this." He said, "Very nice, beautiful. Enjoy, play. Who gave you?" "Mother." "Oh, okay." Then Gandhiji went to his wife, Kasturba. "Children have toys today," she said. "Yes, from where did you buy this? We don't have money." She says, "I took it from your office desk." He became angry. He said, "My dear wife, you are very dear to me, but you have no right to utilize the property which doesn't belong to me or you. You made a mistake. You made a black spot among our struggle for ahiṃsā and the truth." And he put in the newspaper, "Gandhi, crazy husband." You would say today, "Crazy husband." And the news cutting is still there, framed. So there are some people who are running the centers and taking the money. And that develops in their vṛttis all the āsura śaktis, because that money was paid by some people who hardly worked and had very little, but still they gave you things. But I am happy—I would not say proud, that is ego—but I am happy that I can say our brothers and sisters in Yoga and Daily Life, they bring this beautiful news and beautiful sevā to the world. When Gurujī gave me one bean, a soya bean seed, I left India to travel around the world, and I put the seeds, and you are my soya seeds. You are multiplying. So your duty is just to put the seeds in the ground. Some will sprout, some will not, some birds will eat. Someone asked the question, "Swamiji, you are teaching so much, and so many people are coming, and so many people again go away, and some become angry, and this and that. Why are you doing this?" My answer was, like a person who is feeding the birds near a beautiful lake. So many birds come. Crows are also there, ducks are also there. I am feeding and waiting and waiting. I am waiting for that one Paramahaṁsa who will come to take this feeder, which I put out. Other birds, they just eat, digest, and make something dirty and go. So that Haṁsa, the swan, the supreme swan, is not easy. There are a bunch of crows. There are a bunch of ugly dogs, but there is no bunch of Paramahaṁsa. Many would like to play, to become a Paramahaṁsa, but very soon they show their nature. One man said, "I have trained my crow, and my crow can fly, has beautiful talents, can fly, fly, fly." So he said, "Yes, so the talent of your crow." So the crow was flying, down and up, flying and coming, and like this. And he said, "Let him go over the ocean, fly." He flew about three kilometers, turned back, and sat down. Another master said, "I have no crows, I have only one Haṃsa. And what can he do? He can do something. He can fly without playing this theater." And that paramahaṁsa, the swan, he took off. He stretched his wings, and off he goes. That's it. So that Paramahaṁsa—maybe many, all of you are that—but I cannot announce today that here he is sitting. And with this kind of feeling, the renunciation, Sannyāsa... When Gurujī came back to Balagudashram, he brought many things for Gurujī Mahāprabhujī. Gurujī came and put everything, the whole suitcase and everything, to Mahāprabhujī. Only he had his dress on his body, that's all. And of course, what should Mahāprabhujī do with things? So when people came, he gave someone a nice soap. Gurujī had a nice soap in his suitcase, or he had some nice āmlā oil, or good salt, or good shoes. And Gurujī Mahāprabhujī gave further, everything. Till afternoon, the suitcase was completely open, empty except for two or three bhajan books inside. Mahāprabhujī said, "Madhvānandjī, unnecessary things, I gave them to somewhere where it was necessary. But the treasure, I left it here, these two bhajan books. Go." And then Mahāprabhujī said, "Should I give you some money for a ticket or something?" Gurujī said, "Yes, Lord, not now. Where I will need, there you give me." That means he takes care of us. Devapurījī said, "Gurudev takes upon himself the destiny of the devotees." Or you can say, God takes upon Himself the destiny of the devotees. So, sannyās life is not so easy to fulfill. It is difficult now, nowadays very difficult, because you have to think, "Vāsudeva Kuṭumbakam"—the entire world is my family. Attachment is not easy to overcome. So that Paramahaṁsa will come to take that food, the pearls of wisdom, the pearls of immortality. After that, you don't want to have any other pearls, any other food. There is one bhajan from Achalā Rāmjī Mahārāj: "Now I am so divine because I drank the nectar of God's name, but Gurudev gave me my mantra. Now I am filled with the divine because I have drunk the divine nectar, which I received from Guru Dainō. Now we will drink the holy juice of the Lord, the holy juice of the Lord. I feel that all the juices of the world are drinking the holy juice. And all other juices of this world, now for me, they are tasteless. Sometimes I feel like vomiting because of these juices of saṃsāra, of māyā." So Paramahaṁsa is that Divine Swan. That is the Ātmā. So come to me as Ātmā, not as a body. Don't come as an intellectual one. Don't come as a doctor, professor, or whatever it is, scientist. Holy Gurujī said, "This is ignorance: to say that I am president, I am this, I am that, and I am this. 'I am body' is the ignorance. 'I am pure consciousness' is the wisdom." Guruji's last word: "So come as Ātmā." That's fine. And also you must know which is the right pearl. Because water and milk—if you put a drop of milk in the water, it merges into one. If you put a drop of water in the milk, it merges into one. Some centuries ago, people from Persia came to India. They had to, they were thrown out of the country—what we call them, Parsis, I think they believe in Zoroaster. No one wanted to have them, and they landed in India with a boat. They asked the king, "Can we be here as refugees? Can we have a shelter here?" The king said, "Bring me here one bowl of milk, and then sugar and water." And he mixes all three inside. The king tells the Parsi people, "If you live in India, you have to live like sugar and milk together. India is yours. You are welcome." That's it. So we have to live like that to become one. Therefore, we should know how important our volunteer service, niṣkām sevā, is. But at the same time, we have to leave. That's it. Now is not the time that we are living only in a farmhouse and growing our own little vegetables and doing all volunteer work. This is not the time. Now, even to inhale and exhale, you need money. You can't breathe without money. Yes, believe me. Time will come when you cannot inhale without money. Means they will put you in the emergency chamber at the hospital and put you on a machine to inhale and exhale. But that costs money, yes? Therefore, it is said there are two principles: Svaratha and Paramārtha. Svaratha is something for your own using, self-interest. Sva means the self, artha means material—svaratha. And paramārtha: param means the God, highest, and artha is material. So Svaratha and Paramārtha. In one hand you have Svaratha, for your own benefit, to live, support your families, pay your electricity, telephone, etc. Paramārtha: do for your Ātmā and for the Supreme to become one, like milk and sugar. And therefore we do the Niṣkām Seva, Karma Yoga, or volunteer, whatever you call it. So we say in the bread flour or chapati flour, you can tolerate the salt; you can put a little salt. But in the salt, you cannot tolerate the flour. Understand or not? In one kilo chapati flour, you can put a quarter teaspoon of salt; it's okay. But in one kilo of salt, a quarter teaspoon of flour is nothing; you can't digest it. So we should know. Where is our border limitation? More should be Shiva, and so our Yoga in Daily Life organization around the world is on the Shiva basis, and you all, what you are doing, is a Seva. Also, help organize social work in the country where you are, in the town where you are, according to your government's rules and the condition of the society. You know, it is very important sometimes to organize an open-door program at your center and announce a blood donation drive. You inform your hospital, or Red Cross, or certain NGOs. They come, they test, and they take the blood if it is allowed in your country, or you get a card and give everyone free will. Who would like to donate their blood? They can. Go to the blood station, blood bank organized, inspired under the frame of Yoga and Daily Life. Or have a class for the elderly people free of charge once a week in the morning, or for disabled people. So there are many ways to do good things. That is also seva. Volunteer or seva means not only with money. Physically, intellectually, mentally, socially, politically. Where you can help, help. Helping hands have more value than folded hands. So it is, many people are thinking they want to become a swāmī. Recently, I got an email. One young man wants to become a swami. "What are the rules? And I would like to stay forever in India. I decided because my girlfriend just left me, yes." And after two months, he says, "Swamiji, I'm very happy now at the present. I postponed my ideas of becoming a Swami because I found a really very nice girlfriend." That can't be a paramahaṅsa. Hard work. You have to do hard work as a sannyāsī. Becoming a sannyāsī means, "Now you sit in the front. I am a sādhu. What do you think? How do you speak to me? I am a sannyāsī." And others will say, "And what should we do? Make praṇām?" So it's not like that. Tyāga. Renunciation. Sometimes you have to swallow the bitter things. You see the divine in all. Therefore, once Paramahaṃsa Yogananda got a letter from his master that many people tell, "You went to the West, you left me." "I know you have not left me. But many people are talking bad about you." So Paramahaṁsa Rāmakṛṣṇa, to Yogananda, when he got the letter, he was sad. But people talk. Some people are called troublemakers, for themselves and for others. Yogananda was sitting somewhere between the border of America and Mexico. There is a very hot spot, very hot there. And he writes a letter to his Master, only a few lines: "My Gurudev, whatever people speak, I will be Thine. Devotees may come and devotees may go, but my Lord, I will be Thine. I don't depend on how many people come and how many don't come. I make sure that I am Thine, that's all. I am Thine, Gurudev. If people say that I go to other countries, far from You, away, but you know, my Lord, even if I go far, farther than the stars, I will be dying. Still, my Lord, I will be dying. Physical distance does not mean anything to me, but my love, my devotion, that means a lot to me. There should be no distance, no doubt. Even Gurudev, that I can't see you physically, it can happen I die. So even if I die, look into my eyes. They will mutely say, 'Yukteśvar, I will be dead.'" That's it. That's love, that's devotion. Yukteśvar answered the letter. There is written, and he always wrote one sentence: "Mere hirde ke dulare." "Hirde" means the heart, "dulare" means the beloved, but here "dulare" means like a small child in the hand of the parents. That is, we call "dulare" like parents hold carefully the small child in their hands. So Yukteśvar writes, "Mere hṛde ke dulāre"—that's something great. So you have to become the beloved of the heart of God. There is a mercy. If you divide half here, your feelings go here and there, and you think Gurudev doesn't see it, it is the biggest ignorance. Yukteśwar asked him once when Paramahaṁsa Yogānanda was far in Mexico, and something happened. Yukteśwar said, "I was closing my eyes and I saw you. What was that situation?" And he said, "Yes, Lord. That was my ignorance. I took trousers and a tie." At that time, there were no televisions, no touch phones, no Skype, and even to reach the post sometimes took 20 days, or one month, two months; it was going through by ferry. But Gurudev knew. He had to say yes. He said yes again. He admitted, "I was worried about you one day." I think it was in Nepal ashram or Jaipur. In the ashram, it happened many times. Guruji had a fever, nearly 40 degrees, and it was winter, and he had a cough problem. And Gurujī was sitting and doing mālā still. So some of the bhaktas, I don't remember who it was, told me, saying, "Gurudev, you are ill. You have a high fever. Rest, please. Lie down." And Gurujī said, "Yes, I know, the body has fever. But you know," he said my name, "Mahesh has some troubles. And I'm doing mala for him." That is the love of Gurudev. Rare are they who understand Gurudev. So, my dear, this path is beautiful, joyful, but not easy to renounce and belong. So, the life of a sannyāsī, the life of a disciple, the life of the volunteers is not easy. And we have to give blessings, support, a lot of things to give. But Mahāprabhujī said when you give, you should have a distance, otherwise the infection can come to you, and you will fall into the same energy, the same troubles. So, inner... so there is one bhajan Ācārya Rāmjī said. I will search in the book and... find that bhajan. I don't know the whole bhajan. He said to himself, "All saints who wrote the bhajan, not for others, for themselves. And who sing, they sing, should sing for themselves. And who listen should listen for themselves." There was once a case in one city called Linz in '74, '75. There was one bhajan I was singing, and there was sitting one couple, and his wife said, "You see, this is what Swāmījī said, this is for you." So he said, "Swāmījī, can you sing something for her also?" So it is analyzing our self. The Mahābhārata is within us. Gita is within us, Ramayana is within us, Bible is within you. We don't know if really Jesus was there, but for us he's existing. There's a story that one film called "Last Temptation of Jesus," anyhow, at the end of the film there's one pope sitting, or somewhat, you call the... and he was preaching about Jesus, and Jesus is coming with two little children in his hand, and he said, "But Jesus was not like that," and the bishop said, "Yes, he was," and Jesus said, "No." And he said, "Yes." Then Jesus said, "But I am the Jesus." I can tell you, he said, "Yes, I believe you are Jesus, but what I'm talking is different." That's it. So it doesn't matter what people talk about Jesus or Kṛṣṇa or Buddha or anybody. For us, that Jesus which we love in the heart is that Krishna, that Mahāprabhujī. How you realize inside—if you look outside, you will be confused. Arjuna asked again and again to Krishna, "Lord, you are always telling, 'I am this, I am this.' Show me." Krishna said, "Arjuna, you will not digest." He said, "No, no, I will." So, Virāṭ Kṛṣṇa shows his universal body, everything in him: ocean, mountains, desert, hurricanes, what you call tsunami, volcanoes, devas, rākṣasas—what exists in the universe. And Arjuna was frightened. He prays, "Lord, please, I can't. Please appear to me as my beautiful Kṛṣṇa. I don't want to know more about your reality." Again, Krishna appears. Arjuna said, "Yes, I like this. I love you." So, therefore, within, you have to go to your heart and take that sābhī. That picture in Bhagavad Gītā is written; this is not I'm telling you. You should read this. The chapter I've forgotten—in which chapter is it? Gyanand? In the Virāt. Sarupa of Krishna universal form. So that's it. So the seed has to die to grow. The seed has to give up its own. So, volunteer service and what is given for the general, you should not eat; you can't digest. Someone gave me a very nice flower, a pop root. And I said, "I let it cut the fruit, but then I can't. I give the prasāda." Though I take a bigger one, then I have troubles in the stomach. I said myself, selfish. Like there is a story in Līlāmṛt, Gurujī, about the bajrī chapātī, the millet chapātī. So that's it, my dear. Wish you all the best, a very nice day. They said to me from 10:30 to 12, I have to be punctual. Maybe I don't begin punctually, but I stop punctually, because maybe you have some other appointments. Thank you for watching.