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Oṁ param sukhadam kevalam jñānamūrtim dvandātītam gaganasadṛśam tasmāsyādi lakṣyam ekam nityam vimalāchalam sarvādhiṣākṣibhūtam bhavātītam triguṇarahitam satgurutam namāmyaham. Oṁ Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ. Good evening, dear sisters and brothers. I am happy to see you again here in our ashram. It is the Vedic tradition, coming from ages, from those yugas millions of years ago, that whatever you begin in your life—day or night, any new activity—we chant certain mantras. Mantras are the essence, the compact essence of prayers. We pray in two forms. First, our adoration, respect, love, and devotion to the Supreme, which is omniscient and omnipresent in each and every atom and in the universe. It is nirguṇa, without form, yet it is there. Like you have your mind, but you cannot see it. We cannot see our mind, yet it governs us. Sometimes we are angry. Who is that? Where is he sitting? How does he look? Is it he or she? Similarly, we cannot see happiness. We feel it, we know it, but we cannot make a picture of it. Similarly, when we come to the cosmic consciousness, the higher consciousness, we do not see the dust of this planet. We are above all that is happening, good or bad; we are with that Supreme. That One governs the entire universe, and we are a tiny, tiny part of it. We are human, not everything. Though we call ourselves the children of God—yes, we definitely are—not only humans, but all creatures are His creation, His manifestation. Therefore, God is omniscient and omnipresent, yet He has no name and no form. He has no name, but we humans give millions of names to God. He has no form, but we humans give Him the form we like. The form we describe for Kṛṣṇa—He was never dressed like that. He was a very simple person. The dress of Lakṣmī or Sītā, from how many yugas, ages before, millions of years ago—at that time, such material, such fabrics, did not exist. Similarly with Jesus, it was not like that. But we humans create the form. In the Bhagavad Gītā, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa speaks of 18 different kinds of yoga—not only bhakti, karma, rāja, and jñāna yoga, but 18 chapters. Each chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā is one branch of yoga. If you come beyond this, there are more different kinds of yoga. And when you go farther, there are no divisions. There is only one, which is called yoga. So there is no God by the names Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Jesus, or Buddha. There is no name. Only One. God Rāma, God Kṛṣṇa—these are titles we give. There is only one called God. We give names to religion: Hindu religion, Islam religion, Christian religion. We put Hindu, Islam, Christian, but religion is religion. There is a oneness. So, God is called Benāmī, the One who has no name. Hence, He is formless, nirguṇa. It means He has no eyes, but He sees everything. He has no ears, but He hears everything. So, prayers, meditation, the mantras—when we chant, we make a direct connection to that Supreme Almighty, the governor of the entire universe. We pray for the presence, guidance, and blessing of that Supreme. Secondly, we pray that divine consciousness should dwell in our heart in the form of wisdom. It is He who should speak within me through my vocal cords, tongue, and lips, in the form of the divine mother called Saraswatī. Each one of us has Saraswatī. The seat of Saraswatī is in the Viśuddhi Chakra. If your Viśuddhi Chakra is open and you master it, you become one of the best speakers. When the Viśuddhi Chakra is not active properly, you will speak and then stop, becoming nervous, and so on. The seat of sound is in Maṇipūra, at the navel. There is a sound. Whenever you speak any word, you will first feel pressure on the navel. That is also a seat of Saraswatī. She has many places in our body, and that is the seat of the Self, which means God. Let's come to our self, to us humans. Our life begins from the navel. It begins first as a small, intense thing, then the spine, then the head and limbs, and so on. Our life begins with a dot, a tiny dot called zero. The entire universe is a zero. The light of the sun, the energy, goes around as a zero. Nothing penetrates straight. Our self is a zero. Water is a zero. All elements are zeros. There our life begins, and that is Viṣṇu, or what we call God Consciousness; further, we may call it the Ātmā. When we come to the ātmā, it is Śiva. The jīva is Viṣṇu. We give names, but again, there is no name for them. That seed from the Maṇipūra Chakra, from our navel, begins the awakening. Two forces come together to the navel, called prāṇa and apāna. Prāṇa is the cosmic energy, and apāna is this mortal world's energy. Both come together, and awakening takes place. So, first, we pray to that Almighty for success and blessings. We pray that energy should dwell in my heart, in my consciousness, in my words, and in my space. Then your language becomes the language of sweetness, the language of wisdom. You need not search anything in books or anywhere. It will come by itself. That is what I chanted in the beginning: "Brahmanandam param sukhadam kevalam jñānamūrtim." Brahmanandam: Brahma is that God of whom I just spoke, who has no form. We do not know where He lives; He is omnipresent. So, Brahmanandam—that highest consciousness, that supreme bliss, what we call real happiness—is that divine consciousness. "Brahmanandam paramasukhadam": that brings the happiness, paramasukha. Sukha means pleasure, though in English there is no translation for sukha. There are many words we cannot translate. Sukha and duḥkha we translate only as happiness and troubles. Happiness is sukha, and trouble is unhappiness. But in Hindi or Sanskrit, it has completely different meanings. When I translate sukha as happiness, my inner self does not agree. I feel guilty, for that is not happiness. But when there is nothing, it is better than nothing to use it. So, param sukhadam: param is the highest, sukha—here I will say happiness. Brahmanand: ānand is also sukha. Ānanda has a different meaning; sukha has a different meaning. Now I make both together. Hari Oṁ Tat Sat. What can I do? I did not find in any dictionary which word I could use. We can say bliss for ānanda and happiness or pleasure for sukha. In Āyurveda, it speaks about sukha differently: "Pahala sukha nirogī kāyā." The first instruction or main mantra of Āyurveda is this one only. "Pahala Sukh": O humans, in your life, the first happiness—again, I have to say happiness, unfortunately. Happiness is different, and pleasure is different, but I have to use it. O human, the first happiness you can have is to enjoy good health. Nothing can be compared with good health. The happiest person is the one who is really healthy. We are now okay; we try to practice and gain health. We cannot buy health; no one can give us health. Only we have to gain it by practicing, taking care of nourishment, etc. So, brahmānandam—the ānanda, the highest bliss. Brahmanandam param sukhadam: param means again highest, sukha means happiness, the happiest time. "Brahmanandam param sukhadam kevalam jñānamūrtim": and that is only the wisdom. Jñāna and ajñāna: knowledge and ignorance. So God is only the knowledge, only the wisdom. There is no ignorance. Therefore, the Upaniṣad said, "Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya": lead us from darkness to light, from the darkness of ignorance to the light of wisdom. When that light of wisdom awakens in us, we will see the world differently. We will see ourselves differently. We will see all creatures and humans as different. We will see in everyone the light of God. We do not see the body. We do not see what a person is doing, did, or will do. We see this is the light of God, that is all. When a mother gives birth to a child, she sees only one thing: that it is her child. It does not matter how it is, but she is happy. The father is happy. It is only one: my child. Similarly, those who have this knowledge see only one: we are all light of God. "Parama-sukhadam kevalam jñānamūrtim." It is only the wisdom, only the knowledge. Where there is knowledge, you will never speak about ignorance. You will never speak about something which is nothing. "Brahmanandam parama-sukhadam kevalam jñānamūrtim dvandātītam gaganasadṛśam." That One is beyond all kinds of conflict, all kinds of ego, all kinds of greed, all kinds of dualities. There are no dualities. Dvandva. What is the word, Mohan, for dvandva? No, yeah, but what in English? Opposite, too open. Dvandva is a problem in our life: my culture, my country, my language, my religion, my property, my people. This is the Dvandva, and in this Andhaduṇḍa—Dvandva is Andhaduṇḍa. Andhaduṇḍa means we are blind, running against everything. Now you see what wars and things are happening in different parts of the world. This is called Dvandva. Where Dvandva is, there is suffering. Dvandva is war. Dvandva is fighting. There is no mercy, no compassion. It is beyond this dvandva, above this dualism. We often write articles, you know, saying it is without dualities, regardless of age, gender, color, and caste. Many are writing, but in reality, they do not accept. They do not accept. Are you speaking really from your heart when you are writing this? Suddenly, when someone comes and sits, he says, "Oh God," looking this way. The day before yesterday, I went to some place, and there were a few people sitting in a waiting hall in Oakland. I came in and said, "Good morning." To whom? He said, "Good morning." It was a very beautiful picture for me to see. If we go to India, we say namaste. He says namaste. If you come to Vienna, if you said "Grüß Gott," everybody would say "Grüß Gott." Some answers we give from human to human, but now we are missing that all, slowly, slowly, slowly. We talk about multi-religion, inter-religion dialogue, non-duality, accepting, and suddenly I will go and sit there and say, "Who is sitting here?" That's it! When a lot of crows are there and one swan comes and sits, all the crows will see what he is doing there. A lot of swans are there, and one crow will see it. Immediately, we, with these physical eyes, see it differently. But in that One, "dvandātītam," how is He or She? "Gagana sadṛśyam." Gagan means the sky. Sa means like. Draśya means the vision. Equal sky—when there are no clouds, beautiful blue sky everywhere. So when you meditate and learn meditation, at that time, in your consciousness, an equalness will awake, like a beautiful blue sky. One philosopher, Goethe from Germany, said: to see the blue sky, you need not travel anywhere. So to see that equalness in everyone, you need not go somewhere and say, "Should I change my religion, my belief, or this?" You need not. Look within thyself. That is meditation to come to the oneness, to come above this duality. So, "Brahmanandam paramasukhadam kevalam jñānamūrtim dvandātītam gaganasadṛśyam tasmāsyādi lakṣyam." And that is the aim of everyone. That is the aim of meditation, the aim of prayers, the aim of all spiritual ritual ceremonies and rituals and beliefs and all this. That is the aim of all. That is our destination. So where are we? Human. This life is not a destination. This life is a journey, a journey to the destination, or you miss the way. You are in a hurry to reach your airport, driving on the highway, and beside you one is talking all the time, and you miss the exit. The next exit is 10 kilometers. You exit from the next 10 kilometers, but again, the exit back to the highway is another 10 kilometers, and then from there you have to take another exit to come to the right way until your flight is gone. This is it. So human life is that life—only one milestone, only one step, then you are in the Brahmaloka. But someone is sitting with it, chatting so much, and that is called prapañca of life, this dvandva of life. These, these... so many things, and we forget our aim. "Tasmāsyādi lakṣyam ekam nityam vimalaṁ achalam." O my dear, when you realize that Supreme, the Divine Consciousness, the highest Self, the highest bliss, the highest happiness or joy, then there are three things. Ekam: that's only one; there is no duality. Neither you nor me; we are not here as a body. We are two as a soul, but as the ātmā, the reality, we are one. Then neither you nor me. That realization is one. It tells: when I was here, he wasn't here, and now... He is here, but I am not here. "Prem Galī Ati Saṅkarī, Jisme Do Na Samāye. Jab Maiṅ Thā To Vo Nahīṅ, Ab Vo Hai To Maiṅ Nahīṅ." Why? When I was here, he was not here, and now he is here and I am not here. Why? Because the street of love is so narrow. Two cannot walk together. Two have to become one. That is called the supreme, the highest realization: as only one God and thyself became one. So, ekam: only one. Ekam nityam: and that is everlasting. Our ego, our body is everyday changing. There was a time—once I gave a lecture in 1974, somewhere in Czechoslovakia. I still remember when I spoke there in a school for nurses. I said, "Yoga will keep us young. And you will see, I will not become old. I will practice samasya yoga." Today, when I looked in the mirror, I said, "How I was lying there." Yes, true. I laugh at myself when I see myself in the mirror. I remember that day, what I spoke. Every lecture I have spoken from, let's say, 1965 when I began—today, I know where I speak and what I spoke. Anyhow, so though we do not like that our body is changing, it is changing. The body has dharma; its principle is to be born, grow up, and die, whether you accept it or not. When death comes, you have no more power, and you never know who will be the first from all of us here. Recently, there was a very terrible accident. One of my best friends, the head of my akhāḍā, was sitting with six people in a car—a good car, not some mess box, a good security car—but an accident happened and he died. The opposite truck was coming; the tire of the truck blasted. So he turned; another truck was coming, hit that truck, and they were also driving maybe 60–70 km speed, and in between... So the head of that master, or the ācārya, was squeezed together. Within no time, his head was hanging like a piece of flesh under his neck. The others had little injury, so they came to take only him, to death. There are sometimes mysterious or indescribable things. In 1968, there was one story someone told. They were waiting at a railway crossing where there is a barrier. At that time, there were more bikes than cars, and someone had a moped, a motorbike, in Jaipur. The train was coming, and all were waiting. A hawk caught a snake, a big cobra, somewhere and was flying away to take it. Just there, near the railway crossing, somehow he lost the cobra, and it came down. One man in the crowd was sitting on his moped. The cobra bit him, and he said, "Snake, snake!" Then again the cobra runs. Again, the hawk came down, caught him, and took him away. The man died within a few minutes on the spot. There were about at least 50 or 60 people. Why just that one only? So we never know when our term will come. Do not think that you are old; now it's time to die. No, a young one will come. Accept the changes of nature. Though we do not want to, we must. So, ekam nityam: we are mortal beings, and that cosmic divine consciousness is everlasting and only one. That is why it is called the only one truth. "Brahma satya, jagat mithyā." All is the reality. The supreme truth is that God consciousness. The rest is all bubbles, like waves itching here and there. Ekam nityam vimala: spotless. That is called a crystal clear consciousness. Then you will not fight with anyone, or reject anyone, or speak bad or good. All in your address is pure light. Ekam nityam vimala: without any spot. Achalam: achal means not moving at all, unmovable. So that God consciousness is an entire, endless universe which has no energy that can shake that consciousness; it becomes one divine. That is the aim of meditation, my dear, and that is the goal of practicing yoga, and that is our destination. "Ekam nityam vimalaṁ achalaṁ sarvādhiṣākṣī bhūtam." And though He has no form, He is the knower of everyone. Sarvādhiṣākṣī bhūtam. Sākṣī means the witness; bhūta means all living beings, all creatures. So in God's consciousness, in His view, in His dṛṣṭi, everything knows what is happening. Now, what you are thinking here, nobody knows what you are thinking. But there are two persons in this room who know everything you are thinking. You cannot hide, and these two are: one is yourself, and second is that God. To know what you are thinking, so you cannot hide. So you and He means the entire universe and all beings, so you cannot hide. That we have to realize. So, "sarvādhiṣākṣī-bhūtam bhāvātītam." And that One is above all emotional situations: like, dislike; my, thy; no. There is nothing. There is no liking and no disliking. Like and dislike are there where there is ego, selfishness, and desires. But that is beyond that. "Sarvādhiṣākṣībhūtaṁ bhāvātītaṁ triguṇarahitaṁ." Above these three qualities, the three guṇas: sattva, rajas, and tamas-guṇa. Who is above these three guṇas? That One then has a right to have a title called sattva-guru. "Sattva-gurutam namāmyaham." That is a Gurudeva, and I bow down to that guru. That's it. We may call ourselves a guru, great guru, little guru, big guru, small guru, kangaroo, everything. But to understand guru-tattva, you have to go through proper meditation, proper instructions, and there is a way to that Self. There are many obstacles, of course: āsurī-śaktis and daivī-śaktis—the divine energy and the devil's energy, both are fighting. When you come a little more, when you are making progress, suddenly some negative things will come between and kick you away. Like you play football with great effort, your whole team tries to come, and one kicks the football into the goal, but suddenly the other one kicks it, so it goes the other side. That is the thing. Therefore, this path to God is not easy. It does not matter which religion you follow. So, Mahāprabhujī said in one bhajan: "Man vā dhire dhire cāl, gigan gar chaddane bhai. O my mind, slowly, slowly, you have to climb to the top peak of that mountain of the cosmic consciousness." Tomorrow I will translate this bhajan. So, this is the theory, and out of the theory we come to meditation. Tomorrow we will have meditation instructions. In meditation, one should not give too many instructions. You speak theory, and then in meditation you do not speak theory. You just give a few instructions and let the aspirant or practitioner have their own way further. So, the mantra which I chanted: to that master, my adoration again and again. Peace, peace. There are possibilities in human life to come to that point. You have it now. Use it or lose it. You never know where the end is. Therefore, in every culture, I think, we used to say, "What you have to do tomorrow, do it today." And what you have to do today, do it just now. Who knows what will happen? Who knows if you will be able to inhale again when you have exhaled? And when you exhale, you do not know if you will be inhaling. So, Guru Nānak said in one bhajan: "O my dear, thy life is gone without the name of God." But now, whatever remains, hurry up and remember, practice spirituality. All that we think is why and this and I don't—this is only when you are young. You know, horses are wild now. Hmm. But very soon, these horses will be tired. Then we will say, "Oh God, what should I do more?" So, thank you, and wish you all the best. I am not a guest here. Yeah, I am neither a guest nor a host. I am just you. So we are here in our ashram, and it is nice to see you always. I come like I am coming back home to my family. We have here Swami Vivek Purījī. He is very great, so he will speak better than me tomorrow, and he is a great yoga teacher. I have known him since he was 17 years old, so can you imagine how old he is now? So, you do not look at him because... You won't look to me, so how was I at that time? He is a president of yoga and the life of the whole Croatia. He comes from the country Croatia, as well as he is the president of the Hindu community of Croatia. He managed to establish and get acknowledgement of Hinduism in Croatia. In many countries, the religions are dominating, and they do not want other religions to be acknowledged as religions. He is a very good teacher, and this time he went to Kumāmera. He got from my Akhāḍā the title of Mahāmaṇḍaleś, which is like Archbishop or Cardinal. I wanted to introduce you because I am getting old. So I will try. It is the 23rd time I am here in years—23 years crossing, always coming to New Zealand, and always I am a guest, so I was surprised. Do not always tell me that I am a guest. You must write a protocol, okay? Neither a visitor nor a guest. We are brothers and sisters. I try my best to bring the good message in the world. Wish you a very good evening. And now it is finished. So tomorrow Vivek Purī will have more time, also teaching yoga and their life: how to teach, how to practice. Many are just doing, I have heard, like aerobic exercises, you know, very quickly: one, two, this is good for your back, this is good for your—oh my God. So smoothly, slowly, harmony, body, mind, and soul in oneness. Let your horse run in such a way that the horse, the rider, and the observer all enjoy. How nice it is. So, finally, after this, the second mantra comes: Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ, sarve santu nirāmayāḥ, sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu, mā kaścid duḥkha bhāg bhavet. Oṁ Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ. May all be happy, may all be healthy, oh Lord, and I should also be healthy and happy. Peace, peace... adio.