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Salutations to the cosmic light, the Lord of our hearts, omniscient and omnipresent. In His divine presence, a very good evening, dear brothers and sisters. Blessings to all parents, practitioners, seekers, and devotees around the world joining through this webcast. These blessings come to you from the Yoga and Daily Life Āśram in York, Ireland, Whitestone. To those celebrating a birthday or any special event today, I bless you in the name of the Almighty and pray for your good health, strength, and happiness. This evening's subject is mantra and our spiritual sādhanā, or yoga practice. First, I welcome our dear, honorable guests. One is our friend, the General Counsel of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Lubitsch. Welcome, sir. Whenever I visit America, the president is kind enough to send a message that his consul should meet me. Even without a message, he comes, for we are very close. In Croatia, the life of Yogananda is known in every village. Mention Yogananda, and any Croatian will say, "Yes, of course, Swāmījī." It is a country of beauty—the Adriatic coast, beautiful people, beautiful nature. God bless that land. Thank you for your time, sir. It is said you never know where your destiny will lead you. Yesterday we spoke of three levels of consciousness: past, present, and future. We have memories of the past and awareness of the present, but we do not know what will come in the next second. Always be ready to face new events, experiences, and happenings. That is our life. Life is a mystery. As individuals, we flutter on the waves of time through the universe, experiencing good and bad, light and darkness. The wind of destiny drives us in different directions. Therefore, be ready to face and accept what comes. How should one recognize someone? For example, hundreds of sheep and goats graze in a field. The shepherd tends them, and in another part are a hundred or two hundred young ones. In the evening, the mothers come. Each baby, in no time, recognizes its own mother and begins to drink. Similarly, when you meet persons of spiritual quality, no introduction is needed. Your eyes will tell you, "That is it." It is like a magnet; without words, it attracts the ideal. Without making you wait too long, I will share that something good happened to me today. I met a great spiritual person. Spirituality, the soul, is within but needs to be awakened. Life is a mantra, and you need the touch of the master. Therefore, the master is crucial for our development. I visited a beautiful atelier, a studio, today. A beautiful artist was there. Our meeting was like the holy rivers Gaṅgā and Yamunā flowing together. I could feel in his heart the remembrance of his beloved master, Swami Satchidānandajī. In America, many have beards longer than mine and hair seemingly darker, though in my memory, his hair is more white. He is a very famous, celebrated great artist, our dear brother Peter Marks. Welcome, Peter. He is a great artist from the time of the Beatles to the present, famous for painting and distributing happiness—perhaps through Time magazine, the Beatles, the Maharishi, various presidents, luminaries, celebrities, VIPs, and friends, without making distinctions. If an artist or a master makes distinctions—"this is my disciple, this is not"—then he is not a true master or artist. Their vision is equal and fixed on reality. To be an artist, a painter, is a deep meditation. It is said a painting can be heard like music, and music's resonance can be painted. I am not a painter; I do not know how to mix colors. They take white and something, and it becomes green; they do something else, and it becomes blue. To know how is mantra. Suddenly, it makes your life divine. You must know which mantra and how. Without mantra, any spiritual or yoga practice is like a body without a soul, life without breath. Mantra is a torchlight to walk through the darkness of ignorance and cross the worldly ocean. Our dear brother Peter Marks—I am so happy to hear the name given to him by his master: Ātmā. Do you know what Ātmā is? The divine Self, not the soul. The soul is individual; Ātmā is universal. The soul has destiny, karma, birth and death, and experiences pain and pleasure. Ātmā is one day free from karmas and destinies. Ātmā is known as everlasting bliss, eternal happiness. A great saint, the master of Swami Satchidānandajī—Jñāne Śivanandajī of Ṛṣikeśa, who lived in India and passed away in 1963, the same time as our great master Mahāprabhujī—said: "Within you is the ocean of bliss. Within you is the fountain of joy. Within you is the immortal one. Kill this little 'I' and lead a divine life." Swami Sivanandajī said, "Love, serve, meditate, and realize." Without love, you cannot proceed. Without love, you cannot serve. So, awaken with love—universal, equal love. Love, then serve, then meditate whenever you find time. Otherwise, it is said work is worship. The highest thing is service. Helping hands have more value than folded hands. We welcome you, Ātmā. I do not know if I should say Mr. Ātmā, sir, or dear brother Ātmā. And of course, another disciple of Swāmījī, Satsidharanjī. He is a great worker, a warrior, a strength. When a master gives a name, it has a purpose. Why did the master choose this name for you? Psychologically, directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously, that name reflects upon you. It becomes your duty to realize it and carry it forward. The middle one must always be powerful to balance both sides, and that is our dear Arjuna. Swāmījī gave him that name. Arjuna means to protect, to balance, to be strength. Arjuna means to remove all doubts, to repel negative energy and things, and to protect the truth, the reality. These are the two personalities I invited this evening. Though very busy, and many would like to see them, without a second thought, Ātmā, Peter Marks, said, "Yes, Swāmījī, I will come." I asked him to speak, as he shared two or three very touching things. He is in a hurry with another commitment, so I request him to speak now. The floor is yours. (Peter Marks speaks) What I mentioned to Swāmījī today, and what I talk about all the time, is that in this country and probably around the world, we are so blessed by the greatest export any country has ever given another: India giving us Swāmīs. It is unbelievable. I cannot thank the universe enough to be even a part of it and to have experienced it. In 1966, in my mid-twenties, I knew nothing about yoga. I was born in Berlin, lived in Shanghai, spent time in India, Africa, came to Paris, and then here. At 15, I became an artist and became popular in the mid-to-late 60s. One night at 2:30 AM, I was working on a large collage, pasting pictures of the universe from all the observatories. After three days, I climbed a ladder to look down at my collage, hoping to see something amazing, but all I saw was my collage. I climbed down, lifted my hands, and prayed, "Please give me a sign." Suddenly, between my feet, a vision appeared—like a cloud opening—and a man with a white beard, like Swāmījī, patted me on the head and said, "It's okay." It was a strange, touching moment. I thought, "That's interesting." At about 3 AM, the phone rang. I answered, "Hello?" A man said, "My name is Conrad Rooks, I'm calling from Paris." I said, "Do you know what time it is?" He said, "I forgot." I said, "It's 2:30 in the morning." He said, "I want you to come to Paris and help. I made a movie, traveled through India, I'm now in Paris." I told him I couldn't come; I had a young son and a pregnant wife. He offered money, but I refused. The next day, he showed up at my door. I said, "I thought you were in Paris." He said, "When I couldn't get you to come, I jumped on the next plane." He came with the famous poet Allen Ginsberg. They talked me into going to Paris. A few days later, I was in Paris having breakfast with Conrad Rooks. He picked up the phone and said, "Hello, Swami, I've got the American artist with me. Why don't you join us for breakfast?" I didn't know what a Swami was. Within five minutes, a tall gentleman in orange robes, with a long beard, came and sat opposite me. He said hello, very sweetly. I thought, "A swami?" I didn't know "Swami" was a title; I thought it was a name like "Sammy." After talking for a few minutes, I thought he might be a businessman, but there was a beautiful quality about him. When Conrad was on another call, I said, "Swami"—like "Sammy"—"what do you do?" He said, "I'm a monk from India. I come from a tradition of monkhood." Suddenly I realized, "Oh my God, of course, that's where the sweetness comes from." For the next three or four days, I spent every minute with him. I wanted to be near him, to have my arm next to him. On the third day, I said to him—this was 1966, the time of hippies, flowers, the Beatles—"America needs you. Would you come to America?" He said, "America needs me? Why?" I told him we were all searching for something, and he seemed to contain many answers. So he came to America with me. We opened the first small yoga center on 500 Western Avenue, then the Integral Yoga Institute on 13th Street, and later the big ashram in Virginia. Through all these years, I realize the greatest gift the world gives us is the gift from India—these wonderful Swāmīs, like yourself, who come to guide us and give us unbelievable inner joy to spread to others. My whole business is run by that. I am like a yogī at work. Thank you for all the wonderful work you do around the world. (Arjuna speaks) I would like to introduce Arjuna Victor, my buddy. He comes from advertising. After Swāmījī stayed with me for a month, he stayed with him. He made wonderful posters with me about Swāmījī. When Peter called and told me to come see Swāmījī, it was a unique experience for me, too. When I heard the name "Swami," I thought of old circus posters of Swamis lying on beds of nails, doing extraordinary feats. I didn't realize the real feats they could do. To suddenly find a Swami in my midst was amazing. For the first week he was here, he moved into my house. I lived by Central Park, near the Museum of Natural History and the American Historical Society. I said, "Swāmījī, the park is downstairs, here are museums, here is a key if you'd like to walk around. It's a nice neighborhood." He said, "Thank you so much, but I would be happy to stay inside." I thought maybe he didn't want to go out alone. I said, "I can come at lunchtime." He said, "You needn't be concerned. I have many parks and museums within me." Suddenly, tears rolled down my cheeks. I didn't know the word "guru," but I knew at that moment I had a guru. From then on, every day was a lesson. The way Swāmījī taught was never by saying, "Don't do this, don't do that." I brought him to a diner where I had lunch. I ordered a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. I asked, "Would you like one too?" He said, "Yes, very nice. Just tell them to hold the bacon." I thought, maybe he's kosher. There were many stories like this. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn yoga. With Ātmā here, who brought us all together—at first a group of about twelve disciples—we formed the Integral Yoga Institute and experienced what yoga was. To see it today, from our little beginnings to what is like a 27-billion-dollar industry, is amazing. Wherever you go, there's a yoga center. What I've missed for years, since all the gurus came—Swami Sajadananda, Muktananda, Yogi Bhajan, Rajneesh—is the wonderful presence of a great master. I am so happy to have met you today, Swāmījī, to have that back in our lives. It has been missing in this country for a while. Thank you. (Swāmījī continues) Will you be in a hurry, or can I speak with you? An ill person knows what a remedy means. One lying in a hospital with pain, unable to sleep, prays, "Lord, when will the sun rise? When will the doctor come with medicine to relieve my pain?" A thirsty person searches for water. Here in New York, you do not know what water is. The last three days, the sun was shining, and everyone said, "Wow, beautiful weather." But people from the desert, as you saw in the video, carry liters of water for kilometers. That water is everything: drinking, cooking, cleaning, washing. They know what water is; you do not. But we do not know what the sun is; you know what the sun is. When the sun shines, you say, "Beautiful weather." We have seven months and fifteen days of sun. We look for shade to walk under and relax. Indian poetry says, "I wish you always have a shadow over your head." Here, poetry says, "I wish always sunshine on your path." Similarly, when the spiritual soul incarnates on this planet, it is searching. Perhaps you are not searching consciously; you are not aware. But your inner self is searching. When you see that, your heart melts, tears flow. The great Swami Yogananda from California, author of Autobiography of a Yogi, wrote a song: "Door of my heart, open wide I keep for thee. Wilt thou come, wilt thou come, just once come to me? My days will fly away without seeing thee, my Lord. Night and day, night and day, I look for thee." Our soul, our ātmā, seeks that reunion. The practice of yoga, of spiritual sādhanā, and the purpose of human life is to achieve reunion. Yoga means union, but practicing means reunion. We are part of the universal One; we have lost the memory of that. When we meet the master, and the master blesses us and gives the mantra, that mantra is the key to open the door to the universe, the door of your heart. Mantra is that word which influences or manipulates energy. There are positive mantras and negative mantras. Mantra can change, within no time, the entire environment and atmosphere. In India, we say the best way to learn is through examples, stories, or poetry. To make stories more enjoyable, put them in a play, a drama. Here is an example of how mantra can change the atmosphere instantly—or how a negative mantra can also do so, for from the beginning there are two powers: āsurī-śakti and daivī-śakti. In the beginning of creation, there was Anant Brahman, the endless universe. We do not know where space begins or ends. There was nothing, śūnyakāśa, void space. That is called the cosmic mother's body. The space which represents the ātmā—as stated in the Bhagavad Gītā: ātmā cannot be killed by any weapon, fire cannot burn it, no elements can destroy it, and death cannot take it away. It is unborn, immortal, everlasting, divine, Satchitānanda, the Ātmā. That Ātmā is here within you, within me, in this room. For example, take a knife. Symbolically—do not bring one in; security does not allow it. Take a knife and try to cut the space between ceiling and floor. Move the knife day and night until you cannot anymore. Then take a magnifying glass and see if there is a scratch. Similarly, Ātmā is like this space. Whatever exists, exists within Ātmā. You cannot burn space; you cannot destroy it. Objects, of course, can be destroyed. The soul is like this wall, this building; ātmā is the space. Within that space, in the cosmic mother's womb, is the hiraṇya-garbha, the golden embryo. That golden embryo is universal consciousness, pure consciousness, which you may call God, love, light, truth, ātmā, or Paramātmā, Sat-Cit-Ānanda. The definition of Ātmā is Sat-Cit-Ānanda: Sat means truth, Cit means consciousness, Ānanda means bliss. There is no empty space in the endless universe because everywhere is that consciousness. Now, space and consciousness are balanced together by one power, and that is called yoga. They are united like cement that holds two bricks together. That is harmonizing. Where there is balance and harmony, there is unity—that is yoga. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad Gītā: "Arjuna, from time to time I manifest myself through my yoga Māyā, my yogic Śakti." That Śakti is a tendency. The Vedas describe it: eko 'haṁ bahu syām—"I am one, and I shall multiply myself." That is called Swayambhū, self-manifested. No one created Him. He manifested in the entire universe in the form of sound. To see how God looks, it is a resonance. That resonance, the first awakening, nāda in the universe, is still present in every atom, in everything. Sound unites, harmonizes, and holds together our five-element body, connecting it to the divine. After that, elements were created: different planets. It is a chowder look, ikky show Brahman: fourteen different worlds, seven below and seven above, and 2,100 different universes, or solar systems discovered by yogīs far beyond what is describable. Buddha described from his life how it began from stone, how his consciousness reached a certain level and then he lost it. That is why he said there is nothing, no form, only consciousness. Mantra is the original origin of that cosmic sound. After years of meditation and sādhanā, as our dear brother Peter (Dr. Marks, Ātmā) described, a vision came when he was looking at his collage—in his language, "collage" is like a cake? I was a little confused, but yes, a collage. He looked with no expectation but still put himself into it, creating something for the world. Out of nothing, in the clouds, a white beard appeared and said, "That's okay." In my own meditation, around 3:30 AM in the mountains of Czechoslovakia, a vision of light came. Our Mahāprabhujī, the grand master who lived 135 years—I have prepared this book for you—said, "You must read this." He told me, "That's it. What are you waiting for?" I took it, and it was the Oṃ form. It was as if I brought the Aum from the universe to this planet. That resonance is the uniting principle. When the sound awoke, two tendencies or energies manifested: Devī Śakti and Āsurī Śakti—the divine or positive energy, and the asurī, the devilish or negative energy. Since that time, these two forces fight, sometimes the negative dominating, sometimes the divine. Waves come and go, clouds come and go. Similarly, on this planet, āsurī and daivī śakti are constantly fighting. The āsurī śakti can enter humans, animals; suddenly the daivī śakti, the positive, will come and cover it. This change is constant. Without blue, we do not know what green is. There is a difference. Out of that endless Anantabrahmaṇ, with thousands of solar systems declared by the Vedas long ago, comes our beautiful planet. This planet is declared a mortal world, a living planet. Life is here, meaning that resonance manifests here, moving through āsurī and devī śaktis. The creator has made 8.4 million different creatures on this planet, divided into three categories: Jalchar (water creatures), Thalchar (land creatures), and Nabhachar (air and space creatures). These śaktis, both āsurī and devī, dominate this planet. The asuras (negative) want them on their side; the positive want them on their side. Both have their armies, messengers, protectors. In modern times, against āsurī śaktis, we have navy, ground force, air force—an imitation. The story of creation is long, but it is called "you will come and go." That is why it is the mortal world, not the immortal. But who is coming? The soul, which flutters on the waves of time through the endless universe, must come here to develop and then merge into oneness, coming and going. Some do not believe in rebirth. Many do not believe. Belief does not change reality. If you believe, okay. If you do not, okay. It is sure you will be reborn. In spiritual language, we call it reincarnation; in normal language, rebirth. You may not believe now, but humans have caused the biggest problem on this planet. The greatest threat is not terrorism but climate change and pollution. Now humans awake and say, "Oh God, what have we done?" Every government makes laws: anything produced should be recyclable. Do you know what recycling is? Do you believe in recycling? If you believe in recycling, where is the problem believing in reincarnation? You lack the consciousness to follow into the astral world and back. Some say, "I believe, but I will be born human again." There is no permanent reservation. Your karma will lead you. We recycle a newspaper. Will it become a newspaper again? Maybe it becomes other paper, a carton. Therefore, this life is given for self-realization. Out of 8.4 million creatures, one is human. In yoga and spirituality, there is no racism. Recent scientists declare in the human race there is only one: human, no racism. Again, we come to yoga. It is said human life began from the high mountains, the Himalayas, now called Tibet. There was Śiva, the Svayambhū Śiva, and there language appeared, mantra. How can it change you? Imagine you have urgent work. You go to an officer for a stamp and signature. You are five minutes late; he is closing. You say, "Sir, please, it is very urgent and important. One minute, one stamp, please." The person thinks, "How kind," opens the office, stamps, signs, and says, "Next time, come on time." Your language, "Sir, please be kind," is your mantra. If you want friends, give up hard words. The same person, same office, same time, but instead of "Dear sir, please," you say, "Hey, bloody one, it's your duty, do it." What will happen? Same mouth, same tongue. "Please, sir" versus "Hey, bloody one"—these are negative words, negative energy, negative mantra. There is black magic, etc., or positive mantra, which purifies negative energy and leads our consciousness to cosmic consciousness. Therefore, mantra is that light, that torchlight in your hand to walk through darkness in the wild forest. Mantra is a guide. Without mantra, you cannot come through. But mantra must be given by a real spiritual master, a guru. There are rare gurus and many "kangaroos" jumping about. The guru should have a spiritual lineage, paramparā. Then you become that master in consciousness. It is said water is good, but only that water becomes Gaṅgā which enters the Gaṅgā. So a practitioner becomes a master or awakens consciousness by coming to a real Satguru. Therefore, without mantra, our sādhanā (practice) is senseless. Yes, you will get good muscles, a good stomach, but for how long? Even in a bulletproof glass box, life will go. Temporary life is given; therefore, practice spirituality, positive thoughts, love, harmony, understanding, and guru bhakti. You must have the mantra. I know many only practice physically, but spiritually we need that; it is our prāṇa. You can make many models, but inside is no soul. Mantra is that life in our sādhanā, to overcome negative qualities and achieve centralization. I wish you all the best. God bless you. After some questions, our dear brothers must leave, though they do not wish to go. Thank you. I will try to send the webcast from Los Angeles tomorrow. I will be in Los Angeles.