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Blessings to everyone in the name of Bhagavān Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī, Devpurījī, Gurujī, and all the saints of the world. Nirvāṇa—the words for that state. When you achieve higher consciousness, a yogic consciousness, and feel you are developing on the spiritual path—whether through religion, practice, or anything else—how does one feel? How does a person feel when he has reached the state of yoga consciousness, which we call nirvāṇa, when his spiritual development begins? How do we feel? This is self-inquiry. So do not blame anyone. Do not think, "For so many years I have been practicing, and still I have achieved nothing. I have so many problems." The problem is not whether you practice or not. The problem is within you, and the solution is within you. You are the witness of your inner feelings and thoughts. It is said that a person may speak very sweetly to you, with a lot of respect or adoration, but still you do not know how that person is inside. Years and years of practicing, but if you do not change inwardly, you have changed nothing. That is practice. Dr. Shanti has written a small book from one of my stories: Be the Yogī. It is a very little booklet you should read. There are two kinds of reading: one is for your intellectual information, and one is for making self-inquiry, the inner research. It becomes clear to you, and you know what to change. Otherwise, merely thinking, "I am now Śiva"—no one prohibits you from thinking. The great Bhaktamīrā (Mīrābāī) came to Kāśī to have darśana of the holy Tulasīdāsa. Tulsīdās had a great disappointment from his wife and created within himself a kind of distance. He did not want to see any woman, because he thought all problems were the woman's. This Kali Yuga is a woman's Yuga. But the woman thinks all problems are only the man's, because Kali Yuga is the Asuras' Yuga. So a woman sees the man, as long as he loves her, as "My Deva, Pati Deva, my God." And when he disappoints, then she thinks he is an asura. This is a fighting, an inner fighting. Women and men are all divine creations. Women are the symbol of the mother. And you know, the ātmā is feminine, and the jīvātmā is masculine. So you women, ladies, should be happy that you have a higher position. And we men all try to realize that ātmā. How beautiful! So this is an inner conflict. Yes, sometimes it disrupts male to female and female to male. It is like fire and butter. When you bring butter from the freezer and put it near the fire, even half a meter away, still the butter will melt. So this is both sides. No one is to be blamed, only your own thinking. Change your thinking—though it will not happen easily. But Tulsīdās, he was rejected and said, "I do not want to see any woman." So Mīrābāī, a great soul, went and sent a message to Tulsīdāsjī that there is one Mīrā who came from Rājasthān and would like to have your darśan. He sent a message: "I bless you in the name of Bhagavān Rām, but you know I have my saṅkalpa; I do not see any woman." See, Mīrā wrote: "You have your vows, Tulsīdāsjī. I think in this world there is only one man, God—Kṛṣṇa, or whatever you call Him. I am very curious to see who the second one is." Tulsīdāsjī was wise, too. He read this, immediately stood up, and without shoes, without anything, he ran and came to Mīrābāī. He bowed down to her and touched her feet. There was one cleaning lady working somewhere, and she saw what Tulsīdās was doing. He not only saw her but was touching her feet and bowing down. She asked others, "Who is that lady? Who is that lady? Do you know who that is?" They said, "It is Mīrā." "Who is that? It is a Mīrā. Why does he touch her feet?" "Because she is Mīrā." Well, her name was also Mīrā. And in the night she could not sleep. She told her husband, "Distance. Go on, go away. I am Mīrā." He said, "I know." She said, "You do not know." The next day, she cleaned herself nicely and waited at the bank of the river in Kāśī, where Tulsīdāsjī comes every day to have a bath. She was standing on the way, and he said, "Mother, one side." She said, "I am Mīrā." Tulsīdās said, "That was Mīrā, and you are Mīrkā (a mere imitation)." She drank poison, and it did not affect her. But if you drink poison, you will immediately die. Do not compare with her. So, Śiva is Śiva. God is God. Divine Mother is Divine Mother. Inside, we feel ashamed. He said, "I am divine." And? In the German language they say, "Sein Heilige." Just in thinking, he or she thinks, "I am holy." It is a far, far way to be holy. You have to understand your senses. You have to understand your feelings. We are the slave and victim of our desires. We are surviving with the name of God, just. And we pray to the Almighty: "Maybe I did not do what a human should do in this world. But merciful one, at least give me one chance more to become a human, so that from the beginning I will not make the mistakes." Mīrā said: "Mīrā dāsī janam janam kī hari tumāre sāt." This Mīrā is thy servant, O Lord, in many, many lives with you. Now, at least in this life, please be gracious to me. So, how many lives have we had behind all these humans? Or not. And we hope if we do not manage in this life, we pray for a human life again. Kabīr Dās said: "Lord, even if I become a dog in my next life, let me be a dog of the ashram." Because the holy saints will come, I will have darśan, and I will get that Mahāprasād. That is their thinking, not mine. I am only just taking the pearls of wisdom. It is not my creation. So, nirvāṇa, nirvāṇa, nirvāṇa and nirvāṇa—they are two. Nirvāṇa is constructing a house, and nirvāṇa is liberation. The words of what Śaṅkarācārya said very late in his life—the story tells that he was poisoned again due to some religious conflicts. When he realized he was poisoned, he went through the hills of the Himālaya near Kedārnāth. Kedārnāth is Śiva's place. Badrināth is Viṣṇu's place. At that time, he was not afraid. He only said: "I am that Sat-Cit-Ānanda. I am that consciousness, that truth, and the bliss. That is the embodiment of Śiva consciousness." Then no puṇya, no pāpa, no dharma, no artha, no tīrtha—all becomes for you meaningless, because then you are above. But before we reach this inner purification, we should know how many asuras are sitting inside you. Do not look at the face. He said: In the mouth you have the name of God—"Hari Om, Hari Om, yes, my God"—but in the armpit you have a knife hidden, searching for the chance to put the knife in. That is Asura. That is Rākṣasa. That quality will again bring us to different lower lives. You may call it a hell, or there are many different things—sufferings, many, many. So your aim is not what you are feeling and searching. Do not think your life is meaningless—and this thought comes mostly at mid-life crisis. At that time, you will be angry with your husband, and he will be angry with you. Or a crisis comes when you are a teenager: whatever parents say, "No, I do not want to do." Oh my God. You are not that one. You are not searching for this. When we were little, we were happy with a toy. And attachment began. Another child came and looked at your toy, and you did not want to give it. Jealousy begins, desire begins. After certain years, you do not even look for where the toys are; you do not care. But now you are searching for other toys. Many, many lives restless, sleepless. It does not matter, man or woman. Yes, that toy is everything for you. You think you are God, you are life, you are happiness, you are joy, the sense of your life. And God is looking down and saying: "The child, after a certain age, again, this toy you forget. Even with force you try to get rid of it. When not possible, then, legally, what you call the word 'divorce'? One day, that toy..." It was so dear to you, and the same toy has become a poison for you. And then we turn to another toy: God, holy places, this, that, here—because now our inner self knows, no more chance. That comes anxiety. That comes the last final fear. All left me. They all are looking at my wealth. Now I realize they love my money, not my skin. Different diseases begin to attack me. And my best friends are separating, keeping distance. Then again comes the fear. Only God. God says: "I was always here, but you did not remember me at all; you neglected me. Go to your dead God, who was your happiness and all for you." Because now we know we will die. But luckily, we get our ātmā jñāna, Guru kṛpā. He gave them, and we get this consciousness of ātmā. That is the Divine Mother. At that time, then you are above everything. One day, a few lions—oh, tigers—were running behind me. Quickly, I sat in the helicopter and we took off. They were all tigers. They said bye-bye. So these desires, this saṁsāra, this māyā are the tigers running behind us. They do not let us go anywhere. The vyūha cakra, like in the Mahābhārata, surrounds us; you cannot go. You know, you would like to become the president of the country. Congratulations. Please, become president. President means five years' prison. All facilities are there, but you are guarded twenty-four hours, round the clock. What a life! When he finished his five years, he said: "I am now free." He tells his wife: "Let us go on holiday, to Streltsy Ashram, for free." So this is: as long as we do not have that ātmā anubhūti, the experience of the Ātmā, we are prisoners of our own ambition. You know, to become a president, how much they are running and giving lectures and this and that. Struggling, struggling. Going to anyone and saying: "Hello, friend, how are you?" After you become president and that friend comes, you have no time, no point. And when it comes: "Yes, please, can you send me your bio-data?" "I am your friend." "Yes, yes, but it is a protocol." So we limit ourselves by our own inner ambitions. No one is to be blamed—neither your wife nor your husband, not your parents, nor your friends. No one. It is in this, and no one can help you. It is only you who can. That is it. There was one bird, what we call a hawk. That hawk, you call a śyena (falcon/hawk), and that hawk found a piece of meat, or a rabbit, and it took it and flew away. On another tree, there were two hawks sitting, and they saw that he had the big piece and was flying away. They decided to hunt him and take it away. On the other side, also three hawks. So twenty-five hawks were running behind him, up and down and here and there. He was exhausted. He said: "God, I have done nothing. Why are they behind me?" God said: "They are not behind you. They are behind you only for what you have in your claws. Drop it. No one will be interested in running behind you." And he dropped it. All twenty-five were running towards the piece of meat, and they did not even look at him. So all these twenty-five are different senses: prāṇas, indriyas, prāṇa, upaprāṇas, karmendriyas, jñānendriyas. They are all behind us. Only one—you, yourself. Drop your ambition and just be thyself. They will all be peaceful. That is why we are all surrounded by that. So, yesterday we spoke about what? Puṇya and Pāpa. Dharma and adharma, then come the curse and blessings. Even the animals can bless you. We say: "Give someone to eat." Even your enemy, a human. Your enemy may not bless you, but their stomach will bless you. How far do they go? That jāṭharāgni, the fire in every creature's stomach, is one of the biggest fires. It is life-threatening, and that is why we are searching for food. Then the stomach is happy. So look, even your enemy's stomach can bless you. Then why not the animals? And not only the animals. The plants will bless you. The drying plants in your flower pot or in your garden—you give them water. They again get up and look to you and bless you. There is a feeling, and all can bless us. Why? Because when you give happiness, kindness, protection, love, and compassion in the heart, others are happy, and that happiness is the blessing. Blessing can change everything. There was one ṛṣi, and he was very unhappy. He had thousands of years of sādhanā, but he did not have any children. And he wished very, very much for a child. So one day he got a son. I do not know, but when the son is born, they celebrate double. When the son is born, even the grandmother, the mother, makes a big cake with a lot of cream on it and candles. And when a daughter is born, just the mother or grandmother takes cookies. And I do not know who was such a stupid one in this creation who created this duality. He got a son. And that ṛṣi was a great astrologer. And he knew that in his destiny there is no son, no child. But some constellation he oversaw, and suddenly the child was born. And then he made a horoscope. And when he saw the horoscope, it was a horoscope for him. When the son was born, he was overjoyed. And Nārada said: "Ṛṣi, you look so happy." "Yes, I got the son." He said: "I bless you." After a few years, Nārada came. And the ṛṣi was so sad, so down. Nārada said: "Why are you so sad?" "I lost my old tapasyā. I lost everything," he said. "What? If someone stole it?" "Yes, everything is stolen. I do not pray. No, even God does not help me. I do not want anybody else. But what happened? My horoscope says my son has only this year's life, seven years or something, and then he will die. That is, for me, my own death. Why did He give me the son just to show me this and take it away? Nārada, please, can you tell me some technique? Some way that my son will not die?" Great Nārada said: "Yes, there is one technique." "Yes, please, which one?" If we are very ill, with a lot of pain, and someone said there is a medicine that will cure all illness immediately, we are not interested in anything but to ask again and again: "Where is that? Who can give?" No, we are searching. And Nārada said: "Yes, that is a blessing. Bless your son as much as you can, always. 'Bless you, my son. Bless you, my child. Bless you.' Your wife also should bless, and tell the child: Go and touch everyone's feet, and when someone touches your feet, then you are obliged to say: 'Bless you.' When you go to someone as a nice person, then we will say thank you. We are obliged to say thank you. And especially when a child comes humbly, then our heart is overwhelmed. We are pouring our love to this small child. At that time, we have no 'yours' or 'mine' or 'theirs,' no duality. We will bless that child, we will smile." So now, this boy is going to all ṛṣis, to everyone, touching their feet, and they say: "Bless you, bless you." His whole day goes with thousands of blessings. And Śiva temple prays for blessings. Yes, the day came that now in four days the date will come—written in destiny by the God of fortune. It is fixed. The ṛṣi was so nervous. He looked again at his astrological calendar. There was no computer, you know. No chance, no chance that son will live more than four days. Nārada came. "Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa. Ṛṣi, what happened? Again you are so sad." He told the story. He said: "Yes, bless him." "I bless him." And when we bless, what do we say? "Āyuṣmān bhava." Long live. Āyuṣmān bhava. Long live. How many blessings were there in a few years? "Tell him on that day, in the morning, go to the Śiva temple and hold the Śiva Liṅgam. And he said: 'Bless me, Śivjī, bless me, Śivjī. Namaḥ Śivāya, bless me.' Until the next day, he should not go out and not leave Śivjī's abbey." So the child went there, a young boy. He held Śivjī and sat there. "Namaḥ Śivāya, Namaḥ Śivāya, Namaḥ Śivāya." And now Yamarāja comes, the messenger of the dead, to take him away. But they cannot enter the Śiva temple. And there the king of the dead was sweating. "Bring him quickly, bring him." He was sweating. They said: "Come, boy, come." And he said: "They went to Dharmarāja." Dharmarāja said to Yamarāja: "He has a protocol, he has a warrant. Bring him." Yama went himself, and at that time, finally, Śiva appears and told Yama: "Tell Dharmarāja, look in his record, how many billions of blessings he has." And what is the blessing they give? "Long live." They did not say: "Thousand years live." So he will live long. "Live after you can take." But there is no limitation. So Yama went away. And that boy grew up and became a great ṛṣi. And he is still sitting in the Himalayas, still sitting there. What is his name? Mārtaṇḍi. Mārtaṇḍi is he. And Mārtaṇḍi means one who got the victory over death. And then the mantra came: "Tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭivardhanam, urvārukamiva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya mā'mṛtāt." So, what blessing cannot do? Everything is possible through blessings, that is good wishes. So one photographer, he was very fond of the Himalayas. Traveling in high hills and glaciers, photographing, and like this. So one day he made a photo of the Himalayas: snow, glaciers, caves, and so on. And he went back to his country. I do not know if it was English or American. I do not know who it was, and then he developed the film. Now we do not need to develop it; it is developed immediately. And when he developed, he saw one yogī sitting there with me—only ribs and bones—and he was surprised. He went to the people in that area, and he researched about this in India. And they said that was a place, or is a place, where Mārtaṇḍi Ṛṣi was doing the tapasyā. So we do not know how many yugas. His divine soul is there, luckily. I saw in the drying room or waiting room of the President of India—Vice President—and there was one big picture hanging. And while having a cup of tea and talking, always my... I went there, and then I could not keep myself silent or back. I asked him: "Your Excellency, President, whose picture is this?" And then he told me this story. So I told him: "I want to have a picture from this picture." And he said: "Yes, no problem, Swamijī. Call the photographer," and made a nice picture. That is in my room. When you come to Jadan, you can see it. Or I will make a copy, and you can get it. You want to have that picture? Now, some movement, spiritual movement, they put that picture that it is from their holy lineage. But it is not that. That is Mārtaṇḍi Ṛṣi. Blessings can do everything. Then comes the curse. If the trees and the vegetation can bless us, then why can they not curse us? If animals can bless us, why can they not curse us? At the time of killing, that animal does not tell you: "Bless you." What will that one tell? "Curse you." And so there are many, many stories. If you read the mythology of the Old Greek, the mythology of Egypt, and the Jewish mythology—Christianity is a shoot-off of the Jews—so everywhere, even in Islam, there were great saints, and you can see there. Why do we pray? Because we are afraid of getting cursed. And that goes, life and life. In the Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma wanted to bring two ladies for marriage for his nephew. And one of them said: "I was in love with somebody else; I cannot become the wife of this one." Then he apologized, and he brought her back respectfully. So she had her will, she had her purity, and then he brought her back. But that man, the young man who was in love with her, was only seeing her; it was not that they spent five years together and then decided to marry. I am always surprised. What will you marry now? You were already together when you were married. That was already married. What do you want to marry? That man said: "I do not want to accept the kidnapped one." Neither is she there nor here. And she came and cursed Bhīṣma: "I will be the cause of your death. Even many, many lives I have to be born." And that in the Mahābhārata battlefield, Bhīṣma had a saṅkalpa: he will not fight on the battlefield if any woman comes in between. "I cannot throw any weapons at women, and I cannot hit them. That time, I will throw away all the weapons." And finally, no one had the strength to kill Bhīṣma. Then Śikhaṇḍī came and appeared in front of him and said: "Bhīṣma, I am that one," and he became the cause of his death. So the revenge, as a form of the curse, goes life after life until it is fulfilled. So bless all, do not curse anyone. That is it. But if someone wrongly does because your friend left you and will not come back anymore, and you curse others, her or him, that curse is just snowfall. The warm weather will come, and that will not fall as snow anymore. But it will flow on the ground, and sometimes it will be a waterfall. That curse does not affect you. So always take shelter of Bhagavān, Gurudeva. That time, when ātmajñāna comes, then pāpaṁ and puṇyaṁ—neither sin nor virtue can affect me; I am above this. No more sins, no more sins have influence on me. I am already on the throne. Out of ignorance, you can cause many things. There is Ahalyā, one woman, wife of one ṛṣi. And Indra tried to come and kidnap her, but it was not possible. Her husband, the ṛṣi, was going for a bath. When he came, Indra saw that the ṛṣi was coming. He had no chance. And he took the same form, dressed like that ṛṣi, and he was going out of the hut. He came home and was so angry with his wife, and he cursed her: "You will become stone." And it is said, only when God Rāma will come, he can make you again human. And God had to go there. That is why God was sent to the forest. There were many, many reasons. He knew. Others we do not know. We cry. We blame. Hey, someone, the telephone, please. My telephone has nothing. It is put off. It is going inside. Bhagavān Rāma touched his feet to the stone, and Ahalyā became human again. So, a curse is something. Do not go so far that someone will curse you. Therefore, we must have a protection. It is called blood-proof protection. "Jisko rakhe śaiyā, mār sake na koī, bālan bākā kar sake jo cāhe, jag berī hoī." Whom God will protect, no one can do anything. No one can kill. Even they cannot injure or damage one hair of that person. May the whole world be against, that is the shelter of God, that is the shelter of Guru Deva, that is the shelter of the Jñāna. As far as you proceed towards your inner clarity and to the Ātmā anubhūti, you are coming above these all-negative qualities. So these Śaṅkarācāryas: Manas, Buddhi, Ahaṁkāra, Cittāni. Mano, Buddhi, Ahaṃkāra, and Citta. Mano is mind, Buddhi is intellect, Ahaṃkāra is ego, and Citta is consciousness. Here begins, after many comes, then come the jñānendriyas: our tongue, ears, skin, and smell. Then come the karmendriyas. So likewise, we will go through all this continuously. It is said in our local language: "Buke bhajan ho gopāla, ye terī kaṇṭhī mālā. O Kṛṣṇa, hungry I cannot meditate. Here is your mala." Therefore, I had a good breakfast, and you had liquid only. But you know, I want a blessing of your stomach. That if you do not bless me, at least your stomach will bless. Therefore, I wish you, whatever it is there, good taste. And in the afternoon, we will see again. It is beautiful snow, so enjoy it and think about what I said. That is within us. If you will develop on your spiritual path, you will fall down again. If you fall down again, it is called yog-bhrasṭa. So then you lost everything. And that is how you lost through Kusāṅga. That is why Mahāprabhujī said: "Mana sab koyore kusangi ake sang." O mind, you lost everything with the kusanga. Like someone is gambling and lost all money. Like Yudhiṣṭhira, he lost everything. Even he sold himself. That was addiction. Addiction is not only these material drugs, but also habits. That is also addiction. So then we should be addicted to God's love, God's name—that is Amṛta. And so our heart is that pialā, the bowl, the pot. So that Amṛtā, that is God's blessing, God's love. Who are we? We are the beggars. She is Amṛtā, she is God's love, God's blessing. Who are we? We are the zebras. Therefore, Holy Gurujī said: "When the Lord will fill my bowl of my heart with that love, that no one can delete, others will be deleted." So, next time. Wish you a good appetite. Dīp Nayan Bhagavān Kī, Devī Svarma Devakī, Mādhava Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān, Satya Sanātana.