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Part 1: The Mystery of Karma and Destiny Oṁ Tryambakaṁ yajāmahe sugandhiṁ puṣṭi-vardhanam, urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya mā’mṛtāt. Oṁ śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ. Good morning to everybody here and there, and everywhere in the world where you are, joining us through the webcast. The blessing is coming to you from a beautiful city called Kilburn, a suburb of London. London is a multicultural city, more multicultural here than anywhere in the world. All continents, all countries, and all people are here. It is beautiful and very nice. We are also here from many countries. Welcome. Today is again our last program, "The Mystery of Karma and Destiny." That is very peculiar. Many people do not understand and do not accept karma. If you do not understand, that is your ignorance. If you do not accept, it is your problem. If you believe in God, it is okay. If you do not believe, it is okay. God does not lose anything. Ask God, go to God and say, "God, I do not believe in you," and God will say, "And? And what? That is all." So, the decision is individual. When you realize within, then you can research outside. If you are doing only one kind of research as a science, only external things you are searching, but not within yourself, then you do not find the reality. There were two famous actors—I think maybe they are actors, or maybe others—what they used to call them supermen, who were for children flying, you know that? They are holding one very nice poster, both of them in their hands, and they are saying: before you search for life on other planets, save the life on this planet. So before you research something in someone or somewhere, first research thyself. That is what Mahātma Gandhījī said: be the change you want to see. So unless you change yourself in that direction, you cannot see what you would like to see. If you want to see God, then first you must see God within yourself; then you can see what God is outside. If you believe in yourself, then you will have no problem believing in God. But when you do not trust yourself, you cannot trust in God. So "yourself" means not our ego. We are not this body. We are not this energy. We are not this mind. We are not this intellect. We are not this emotion. And we are not this soul. We are not this intellect. But we are the Ātmā. That Ātmā within us is the light of God. And when you feel that within you is the Ātmā, your life will be completely different. Those who have problems trusting in God or in something else, every morning when they wake up, they should say: first, when you open your eyes or you wake up, you should say the name of God, look to the picture of the God which you believe, or your master, or "Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya," a beautiful mantra. Then you should tell yourself, consciously, "I am human." This is a great mantra for self-protection and protection of others. Which mantra? "I am human." Now, that means we should know what humans should do and what humans should not do. It is very clear. When someone does bad things, we will say, "Oh God, that was not human." When one does so many criminal things, we will say, "Oh God, that was not a Hindu," because of non-violence. And in Europe they said, "Oh, this is not Christian," because Christians believe they should not commit violence, they should not kill. In Islam they will say, "Oh, Mālik, unkī hirde mein raham nahī." Raham is mercy, but in his heart there is no mercy. So here we come to all religions together, no problem. So we always say, in the morning we wake up and say, "I am human." What humans should eat, how humans should wear, according to the place, days, and call, you know. When you go to your bathroom, you should wear different clothes. When you take a shower, you do not wear anything, or you wear your T-shirt. Many are they who do not wash themselves completely without rest. In many cultural things, it is said it is a sin. You do not respect the water. So, when you go in the street, you should know what you wear. That is called self-respect. Self-respect is not an ego. Self-respect means to respect others. Then respect comes to you, so you should have proper clothes. You should have proper waste. When you come to yoga class, do not come with those socks which you have not changed in a month. Sorry. So self-respect means to respect others. So as a human, what I can do and what I should not do. The first mantra is, "I am." You go to the bathroom or touch the water, thank your God. Water element. Oh, element, not elephant. Thank you, God. You touch the water. Oh, clean your face. If we say water is life, life is God, God is love. Sorry, excuse me. God is love. Love is water. Water is life. Life is water. So, when you take a second thought, what makes me human? Two legs and two hands. Head up, not down. Not this body only. Not this body only is the human. So what makes me human? The qualities. The dharma, the principles. So what are the principles of the human? When we come to know the human dharma is merciful, kind, humble, forgiving, wise, and many other good things. Good quality is the human quality. Anger, hate, jealousy, revenge, and stupidity are not human qualities. That is Asuras. From the mouth of the God, from the mouth of the great saint, does not come bad words, nor come bad thoughts, nor come bad actions. But what are Asuras, what you call the satanic devils? They have destructive thoughts and destructive work. They know this, and they are poor; they do not know how to overcome. Now, what makes me human? These are the qualities. Which qualities? These are positive. How to get these qualities? Good one. And how to get rid of the bad qualities? Spirituality. Now sing bhajan, I cannot talk. Sorry, five minutes, give me rest. So, these three mahā mantras: first when you get up, and of course according to your belief and your mantra you repeat—every belief is good, and if you do not believe, you can see the picture of your parents or your children. First thought: I am human. Second: What makes me human? Third: How to develop this human quality. That will protect us from such a karma, which will not be a burden for us in the future. The destiny can be changed by only certain people. So, there is a—I think this is what caused my coughing, it sucks the air from my mouth. Little power, that is it, yeah. So there are certain laws in the cosmic self. The three are creator, Brahma, Viṣṇu, and Śiva: protector, liberator, and sustainer, or creator. Then comes the other tattva; the highest tattva is called guru tattva. But the guru is not what we think here in the modern world, where now everybody is a guru. Yeah, but there are rare gurus and more kangaroos jumping here and there. So it is that Gurudev, who can change our destiny, can see our destiny. In our holy book, Līlā Amṛt, you have everyone here. Those who do not have this book should have it, and then you will understand what Guru means. There is a story about Devpurījī, our grandmaster, master of Mahāprabhujī. He has been walking somewhere, and one man greeted Devpurījī. It was through the desert, sandy hills, and Devpurījī said to him, "In fifteen days, you will be married." He was surprised. He said, "Gurudev, I am already married, and I have three children." He said, "I know very well, but your wife will die now, and the children need a mother. So I bless you so quickly that in 15 days you will be married again." "But now I am happy, I am not because I love my wife, my children." He said, "Do not worry, all will be okay." But she had to go. And the next day she died. And very soon after this, all ceremonies, funeral ceremonies, twelve days, thirteen days, according to Hinduism, according to the ancestors’ law—what you should do, what you should not do—this is the twelve days how the soul is traveling. This is the other subject; I am not going that way. That also connects us with destiny and karma. And an offer came to him, and someone, there was one lady, she was a widow, and she wanted to marry again, so she found a good house and got married. After 12 or 15 days, he said, "Gurū Dev told me already before that." So this is that he knew, he knows the destiny, and he can change something for us, the destiny. This was one case. Second, also we read in the Līlā Amṛt, there was one man who bought a beautiful camel, a very beautiful, strong, nice, four-year-old or five-year-old camel. And that time was about 600 rupees or 200 rupees, I do not know exactly. It is written in the elaborate, I forgot. So let us say 600 rupees; at that time, 600 was like 6,000 pounds. So he bought the camel, and he was coming home near Khatu, and just then Devpurījī was walking. So he wanted to go quickly to Devpurījī, make a praṇām, and tell him, "I got a new camel, and please bless me and my camel both." So first he wanted to go walking quickly, but he could not cover the distance. Then he sat on the camel and was riding; the camel was running at full speed. The camel is the boat of the desert. In the desert, where it is sandy, the camel has a nice, soft walk or run. You know all about Kamal Sāl, no? But the distance was, as it is, about 150 meters or 200 meters. Devpurījī is walking slowly, and the distance is still the same. So he is calling, "Please, Gurudev, give me your darśan." So Gurujī, Mahādevpurījī turned back and stopped and said, "You know, when you go to some saint, do not go proudly with your vehicle or horse. Walk peacefully, slowly with them. Then there is no distance. Otherwise, if there is no devotion, then the distance is very far. You cannot cover the distance. No love, no devotion means if you are 20 meters far from me, I am also 20 meters far from you. And that can never be coming together unless devotion is there, love is there. And then all trouble comes." He came and he said, "Gurudev, I bought this new, beautiful camel. Please bless me." So Devpurījī looked and said, "You will get 20 rupees from this." "Gurudev, I paid 600 rupees." He said, "Yes, but you will get something, 20 rupees." Well, he thought Gurudev did not know what a camel is and how it is. He went home, and one man came. Look at the destiny. What destiny? Who can see? For us, it is like a black curtain in front of us. We do not know what will happen in one second or minute. Pata nahī, palkar bahut kartā hai kalkā. You do not know what will happen in a second, and you are talking about tomorrow. Who has seen tomorrow? No one. Did you see tomorrow? On the street, there is one poster written today. Yesterday was also today. There is my picture, and it is written today. So always today, not tomorrow. And if it is tomorrow, then always tomorrow. No one has seen tomorrow. We saw yesterday and today. Tomorrow we do not. He brought the camel home to a village called Chote Khatu, near Khatu. And one man came, a farmer, and he told this other man, "The camel is beautiful, and I would like to buy it. Can I, please?" He said, "Okay, you give me some deposit?" He said, "Yes." So he gave him 20 rupees. He gave him 20 rupees as a deposit, and then he said, "I will pay you every month as I earn money, because I will use this camel for work." And he took it home. In the night, the camel died. This poor worker came and said to that man, "I am so sorry, the camel died. I will pay you money because I promised, but not so quickly. I hope in one or two years." That man said, "No, I got my price. Three days before, Gurudev said to me, 'You will get twenty rupees,' so I got twenty. I do not want any more." So you see, people also are generous. Others will say, "It is your problem, he died, or maybe you gave him poison. Now you have to pay my money," but he understood. So he got back. So this is second evidence that "An honī guru kar sākhe honī det mitāī, par brahma gurudev hai sab kus de banāī." What is not possible, he can make possible. Impossible can become possible. And what is possible, he can make impossible. Because destiny is in his hands, so do not take it too easy. The second story is from two centuries ago. There was one sādhu living in a small hut, going for food, coming back, eating, and making his sādhanā. It was at that time the British regime in India and the kings. So every king, and they had—the farmer had to pay the tax to the kings here too. Whatever the farmers were earning, they took it all. Leave a little bit that they can leave from that. That is all. So, thanks to God, now we have democracy, yes? But in democracy, it is changing; it is called demon crazy. They are demons and crazy. By nature, it is a monkey, and stung by a scorpion, it is more restless, demon-crazy. So they have a tax collector. So that tax collector used to go to the farmers, and he took all that they were earning. He left just how many people at home, how many grains they need per year, per head, leaving 20% more if guests come, that is all. People were suffering, and if they did not give, he was beating them. And if they were not declaring honestly, like now also many people are not paying the tax to the government. Everyone tries to avoid paying taxes. But if you will honestly pay the tax to your government, your country will be good and well off. Those countries whose economy is very bad, the guilt is on some people, so-called the rich people. They do not pay the tax and contribute. After the Second World War, the Germans and these few countries, all people understood, and honestly and hard they worked for their country. And you know, it became one of the rich countries. So, not to pay the tax is also a sin, a sin towards your nation. And therefore, you should pay the tax. You have to pay tax for everything except God’s gift. God gave us air, God gave us all elements, God gave us happiness, love, and kindness without any tax. So you have love in your heart, you do not pay the tax. God gave you happiness, joy, this, that. So when the people try to hide something, then he used to say, "On the name of the king, I give you that you have to declare everything, otherwise I will beat you." Always said in the name of the king, so they said, "Okay, sir." Like here you will say in the name of the queen, yeah? You saw the Gandhi video in Africa. Gandhi stood up and wanted to say the prayer, and everybody should stand, but the British soldiers, they did not stand up; they were sitting. And Gandhi is saying something about, "Long live the queen," and they got up. Did you see that? No, you must see it in the Gandhi film. Oh, immediately they got up. Long live the queen. So, whenever they said something in the king’s name, they were honestly giving everything. That sādhu, his name was Sagram Dās. You can go to Rajasthan, India, and find out his name. He was a great poet. He wrote the poem in the very, how do you call it, local language. That the tax collector was a disciple of that Sāgrāmdās, and all other people, also farmers, were his disciples. So he used to go first to the Swāmījī and greet him, and then he used to go to the farmers, the tax collector. So all the farmers went to Gurujī and said, "Gurujī, please, can you tell him? He is so cruel to us." So, one day when he came, Gurujī said, "You should not be so hard to the people, you should be kind to the people." He said, "Guru Dev, no, no, it is not like that. You do not know how to deal with them. You only know how to do your sādhanā. Do not worry, you do your sādhanā, and, at most, you give me your blessing. That is all." Before Gurujī could tell more, again, the farmers were coming and complaining. He said, "On the name of the king, he makes us blind, and we have to do it. If we do not do it, then we will be punished." So, Saṅkramdājī said to the farmers, "Tomorrow, when he comes to take the old tax and he is angry with you, then you should say, 'On the name of the king, we all order you to immediately fall into the water well and die now, on the name of the king.'" He said that I cannot do, so they said, "Then we will also not do. You punish us in the name of the king. And we have to do all, and you are not doing." So he thought, "There must be Swamiji doing something." So he went to the Gurujī. "Gurujī, what should I do?" Gurujī said, "Yes." "Why? No, no, Gurujī, I cannot do like this." "Then be kind to them. You know that normal people have two eyes, but you must have four eyes. One for ruling, and the second to see the kindness and humbleness of the people. Do not punish them like this. Karma will come back." You say, "Guru, they are not worried. These people are like this. They have to be treated like that. And you should give only me the blessing. That is all, an event." Look what is happening. Time does not wait for anyone. And karma will not leave anybody free. Sooner or later, we all have to die. One day he died. Who? The tax collector. And he saw, after a long time, it enter into the stomach of the camel. Beautiful camel. And a camel gives birth after 12 or 13 months. So, for 13 months he was in the womb of the camel. Then a male camel was born. After two or three years, this camel was bought by a man who had a stone mine, not for precious stones, but for normal stones, sandstones, and granite stones. So one worker bought this camel because it was strong and young, and now he had these rings in its nose, the camel, and pulled it down about 150 meters deep, like this, going down to the mines. And he loaded stones on the back of the camel, the stone slabs, left and right and top. The karma of the camel is that he has to take the load on his back while sitting and then stand up. The camel has to sit down so that you can sit on it, and then it has to stand up. How his knees must be strong, no? So he was sitting on a camel, and he loaded stones. And now he pulls his head to stand up, but he cannot. Too heavy a load. And this man, he said, "I paid so much money to buy this lazy camel." He had a very nice, flexible bamboo stick. You know that you are using that for cleaning the carpet. So he was beating him on his buttocks of the camel, and he was making very nice balls. Bing-bong balls and screaming. He cannot get up. When you go to Rajasthan, people will tell you, and they will give you the poem that the Sādhu wrote after that. He was beating midday, hot sun, that Swamiji, he was just passing by, Sagram Das was his name, and he heard some animal screaming, someone was torturing. He looked from where the sound came, and there were mines. That mine is a very famous mine where he was, and that is where the white marble comes from. You know Indian white marble is very famous. All the statues in the temples here in England, you will see, are from Rajasthan stone. Holy Rajasthan, even stone is worshipped. So what about the people? That is different. So, Sagramdhaji looked in the mind, and the one man is beating and beating. So, he went quickly in the mind and said, "Stop, stop, please stop." So, he greeted Swamiji and said, "What are you doing?" He said he is so lazy, he does not want to get up. Part 2: The Camel, the Karma, and the Path of Purification He said, "It’s too heavy, these stones. Take one or two stones away." The man replied, "No, Swāmījī, I paid a lot of money, and I knew this was the strongest camel." Swāmījī said, "In a moment, I will tell him a mantra, and he will get up. My stick is a mantra which has an immediate effect." He said, "Moment." So Sagrām Dās began talking into the ear of the camel. He said his name, Kedāśagrām, the poet, Sāgrām Dās. This is a poem in the Marwāḍī language, which you may not understand, but I will tell you what it means. He said: "O camel, now don’t scream. You didn’t listen to me, and you were torturing the people, taking everything away as a tax, more than your due. I told you many times, and you didn’t listen. Now, your screaming here will not help you, my dear. Get up. This is your heavy karma on your back. Try to get up and go and finish your karmas. But I will help you because you asked me for blessings that time, twice." He then told the man, "Please take two stones away." He took the two stones away, and the camel got up and went slowly, slowly out of the mud. This means karma comes back not only in this life; more will come in other lives. This is the mystery of karma and destiny, hidden in our chakras and in our astral body, or in our causal body, the kāraṇa śarīra. Normally, we speak of only three bodies: physical, mental, and subtle. These are three bodies. But the causal body is what carries the karmas and desires. So it must not be only in this life; it can be in many, many afterlives that karma comes. So clear it up here, not with your tricky mind, not with your intellect. You might think, "This I will clean, this is okay," but no. Here it may seem okay, but there it will be heavy. There, nobody will listen. Only that one whose witness is God, or that Pārdarśī Gurudeva, can see—not we. We cannot. Therefore, it is said: the Pārdarśī Gurudeva kā Anubhava Aparamparā. "Pārdarśī" means transparent, a transparent vision of such a sense in the three lokas—past, present, and future. Anubhava Ajaba Apara. Their experience is endless. They know what it is, and that’s why they are telling us what we should do and what we should not do. In the Līlā Amṛta of Mahāprabhujī, this is written in a very simple way, through a very fine, clear, little example of a story, which is not merely a man-made story, but a reality. Some people from that time are still alive, and what is in this book is described. So, do not be afraid of anything, but be afraid of your karma. What you write, something that will become your permanent karma. What you think will become your permanent karma. What you act—physically, mentally, intellectually, socially, emotionally. We may be happy for some time, but then we will be in a very, very terrible state. So, two things. First, be cautious towards your karma. And second, be merciful to thyself. Do not cheat thyself. Do not put thyself in darkness. In the bhajan of Mahāprabhujī, Holī Gurujī said, "Janam Janam Dukh Pāyegā." Brother, wake up, your opportunity is passing by. "Janam Janam" means lives and lives. You will be very unhappy in painful situations. So destiny is the fruit of our actions. Destiny is the reaction of our past deeds. Destiny is created by us, not by anybody. Do not blame your parents for your destiny. Your parents, our parents, can give us only birth, not destiny. There is one beautiful bhajan written, whose name I have forgotten, but anyhow you will not sing it today. In that bhajan, it is said that a father or a parent has four children. One became a king, the second became a beggar, the third became a thief, a criminal, and the fourth became a saint. Parents could give us birth, but not destiny. Therefore, the great saint Surdājī said to Uddhava, who was a friend of Kṛṣṇa, or a disciple of Kṛṣṇa: "O Uddhava, karma kī rekā nyārī nyārī." The lines of our fate are different for everyone. So parents can give us birth, parents can give us the love that they can, or they can give the money that they have. More, they cannot do. Destiny, they cannot do. And whatever they give you, maybe you will destroy everything or you will lose it all. The standing is our past karma, and for that we have a pūjā, a mantra. Through our mantras, through singing our prayers, and through your kriyās, that will purify the antaḥkaraṇa: manas, buddhi, citta, ahaṃkāra. Antaḥkaraṇa: manas is mind, buddhi is intellect, citta is consciousness, and ahaṃkāra is ego. These four will be purified, the antaḥkaraṇa. I can tell you this, but what will be the effect of that? Some people play the trick, some people try to hide, but the reality is different. That reality becomes the destiny; that reality becomes the karma, not the other. So purified, clean, honest—that is a very, very... very... The destiny of the karma is individual; it is the fruits of our deeds. So now it’s 11 o’clock. I wish you all the best. And one thing we learned today: don’t keep the microphone too close; it sucks your energy and dries your throat. Gurujī always used to keep it a little far. I asked, "Why, Gurujī?" He said, "It takes energy, Maheśvarānanda." I said, "Gurujī, come on, you have so much energy." But today I understand, Gurujī, you know. So, thank you. And now we can have some questions. You are welcome to ask. Questions can also be on the webcast, so they will also understand what kind of questions are being asked here by the international audience in this hall. Deep Nār Bhagavān, I wish you and bless you with good karma, which will lead to a good destiny. Question: Regarding the purification of karma, overcoming karma, or becoming free from karma—are these the same? Besides prayers, pūjās, and so on, what about pilgrimage places? Answer: Purification of karma, overcoming karma, and becoming free from karma are essentially the same. The holy place, the pilgrimage place, is there where some holy saint or incarnation lived or walked. That we call tīrtha in our Hindi and Sanskrit language. Tīrtha literally means that which will help us to cross the ocean of ignorance, this māyā. It will make us free from this sin. The disciple of Mahāprabhujī, Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī, wrote a beautiful bhajan. He became, after taking sanyāsa, a sādhu, a disciple of Mahāprabhujī. Mahāprabhujī gave him—his name was Savaisī—a beautiful bhajan: "Guru caraṇome yadi ratahe." Yes, we sang this bhajan, but you may not understand it, so I have to translate. Swāmī Śivānandajī, disciple of Mahāprabhujī, said: "The holy place is at the presence of Gurudeva." Where the holy feet of Gurudeva are residing, that is that shelter, that is the holiest place. Now, the Upaniṣads—you know the literature: first the Vedas come, then the Upaniṣads. The Upaniṣads are very, very interesting scriptures written by great philosophers, great saints, and ṛṣis. When you read the Upaniṣads, then your entire opinion and feelings towards God, spirituality, and reality will change. The word Upaniṣad: "upa" means near, and "ṣad" means the disciple. The disciple who is sitting near the master and listening to the wisdom, drinking the milk of the wisdom, that is called Upaniṣad. Literally translated, it is the Gospel of the Master, which later in Christianity they made this Upaniṣad’s name, Gospel of the Master. So the apostles of Jesus were his disciples, and Jesus was the master. It is said that from different mountains, preaching this and that, they were near the master. So that’s called Upaniṣad. Śāstra means the disciple. Śāstra means the truth. Jijñāsus who have the inspiration, and they are real aspirants, are searching for the reality, the truth. So "upa" means near, sitting close. They write about this: the holy place has more power of purification than sādhanā alone. But you must not change your feelings when you are there; otherwise you lose everything. So people go to the holy place, stay there doing karma yoga or seva, and afterward they change their opinions and feelings completely and do things completely opposite, so they pollute themselves. That’s not good. That’s why most holy places were far away from civilizations, somewhere in caves and high up in the mountains. At that time, there were no roads, no helicopters, and you had to walk slowly, slowly, crossing one hill, then going down again, and then again through the valley and up again. You met some sādhus, you made some pilgrimages. You had a little to eat, sometimes you didn’t have anything, so some sādhus were getting some food for the pilgrims and giving it to them. But your concentration, your feeling was, for example, going to Kedārnāth. In your feelings, all the time, your destination, Kedārnāth—all the tiredness, hunger, and everything was for you. Still, you were enduring because you would like to come to that holy place. You were repeating the name of that god or place. You were remembering that. So, Abhā Maṇḍala. Abhā means the auras. Now your auras were slowly, slowly changing. You were becoming yourself as a Kedārnāth. But you cannot become that unless there is bad karma. So all bad karmas, by every step—this I will come to translate later. So you come to Kedārnāth in the Himalayas. This year, there was a big, big flood and destruction. That was the stupidity of the human, the human greed, human mental pollution. Humans try to manipulate nature, but they don’t know nature is stronger than their manipulation. Nature is stronger than their science. Just above Śiva’s temple, they made a very big dam without researching anything. And there was a Divine Mother’s temple, a very, very old temple from the Satyayuga. They moved the temple somewhere away. So, the dam was full, there was very strong rain, and the dam broke, and it washed away about 70, 80, or 100 villages. I don’t know where these villages are, where the people are. The buildings were just falling down. Millions of creatures died: elephants, deer, many, and hundreds of thousands of people died. Because people began to do business, alcohol, meat—everywhere people were walking, they went and they created many, many hotels, and those hotels had unacceptable actions in them, not like a holy place. Some people were only going for honeymoon there, so about 80 hotels. Within no time, you don’t know where these hotels are. Even the telephone is not available there. All is cleansed into the Gaṅgā, into the ocean. Karma. Do not go against nature and against the holy place. And the Śiva temple remained. Śiva remained. A big, big rock, bigger than this house. You cannot purify the karma just by going. But by going slowly, sweating, breathing the air, you come there; you are yourself that holy Kedārnāth. Then you make a parikramā, go round, you are moving in the light of God, and you are also arising in the light of God, you become one. Then, if you are going to the pilgrim place, the holy place is successful; otherwise, you are going like a tourist. And tourist means to risk, so sometimes a risk and sometimes a decision. That’s also my problem, that many of our European people go as seva, karma yoga, doing work in the āśrams in India. And after two, three weeks, they completely change their feelings, and they do things which are not acceptable. I tell them, you are not going to find a girl there, you are not going to find a boy there. They say, "Of course, Gurudev, I have no desires in this way." And then a girl comes there, and she takes my best karma yogī and goes away. He goes single and comes double, either pregnant or with a husband, so it goes two or three. That means they did not understand the purpose of the pilgrimage. So I know, because yesterday you told me you would like to go to Bodh Gayā. Yes, there is a holy tree, a banyan tree, where the Buddha, Siddhārtha, got enlightenment. Siddhartha’s birthplace was the palace; he was a Rajput, a Kṣatriya, a Hindu. Born as a prince in India, so Buddha was a Hindu. And Buddha, buddhi means intellect. When the intellect is enlightened, then we call it Buddha. So bodha, bodha means knowledge. If you do something stupid, we say, "Oh God, he or she doesn’t have bodha." Means you don’t have that common sense. So Bodh Gayā, Gayā is the name of a city and a river. That is a place where 90% of people go for making ceremonies for their ancestors, Pitṛ Pakṣa for the ancestors. This is Bodh Gayā, and to get liberation, they bring the ash or the ūrṇā of their ancestors, of the families, in Haridwar and Harkipedi. So Bodh Gayā is for all Hindus or non-Hindus who want to make liberation for their ancestors. If you have some problems, really because of some ancestors, in Bodh Gayā Pūjā, all will be peaceful again. This is also a place where the Buddha practiced and meditated. So the Himalaya, the Kailāśa Mount, Kailāśa is where the first Śiva manifests himself. And then the creation begins. So, of course, the holiest of the holy places and the seat of the Swayambhū Śiva is Mount Kailāśa. If your heart is good and healthy, you should go at least once in your life. I will also try, but my heart doesn’t allow it physically, yet inside, my heart allows. But now they have made—again I’m talking opposite to what I was speaking before—they have made little comfortable roads so people who have heart problems can go easily, or a helicopter can drop you, and for a while you must have a mask and oxygen. So without any doubt, Mount Kailāśa is Śiva’s seat, the highest, the highest one, the origin of all pilgrimages. And the next one is called Prayāgrāj, Tirat Prayāgrāj. The king of all holy places is the Ilābha Priyāga, where Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī come together. That is another thing. And it is said: "Sant Milanko Jaye Tajmaya Abhiman." If you want to go to a pilgrim place or to some saint, then you should go without the ego of your position and your wealth, anything. "Sant Melanko Jaye Tajmaya Bhiman, Jojo Pagage Dhare Tyo Tyo Koti Yagya Shaman." Then each step towards the saint is like you have done thousands of ceremonies. Each step is that one. When you go and bow down, then the thousands of luggage of the karmas will fall down. But with that love, it’s very easy to kneel down, but very hard to bow down from your heart, surrendering. So, pilgrimage definitely purifies our karma, and it leads us to spirituality. Question: What is the difference between ātmā, soul, and prāṇa? Answer: Ātmā is the universal one, the light of God. And the soul is individual, a bundle of karmas. Prāṇas are different kinds of energy. Sometimes it’s good energy, sometimes it’s bad energy. When you are angry, it becomes bad. When you are happy, it becomes better. So energy changes its quality with your emotional feelings. What kind of food you eat, that kind of energy goes into the body. With whom you speak, that energy goes into your body. With whom you are, that energy goes into your body. Only by sitting beside someone, the energy flows in. So, where to sit, where not to sit. True? So you should make a barrier. Repeat your mantra and close your eyes. Nothing will happen. Question: When is the right time to change one's mantra? Answer: The right time to change the mantra is in the next life. A mantra is only given once by the master. Like birth is once given by a mother—you can tell all ladies are your mothers, but that mother who carried you for nine months in her body and gave birth, that is only one. Similarly, you have only one guru, no matter how he or she is, who gave you a mantra; now that’s fixed. But you can gain knowledge and wisdom, and serve any master, no problem. But keep that mantra, and as your guru or master, that one which you have. There are some people saying, you know, "This mantra is not good; I will give you a good mantra that will be more powerful." I don’t suggest this. Maybe they are good, maybe they are powerful, but what will I do with that power? I have my Gurudeva, and he is very humble, very calm. I have my mantra, which I have been doing for many, many years. I have been practicing my mantra for 60 years now. And in these 60 years of work, if I change my mantra, it’s all gone. I will not live another 60 years. Therefore, my dear, don’t try to change your mantras. If you have a mantra from some other guru, I congratulate you that you have a guru. And you should keep that guru in your heart. It doesn’t matter who he or she is. Maybe he is just your taxi driver. Why not? Taxi drivers are great. Maybe he’s a farmer, harvesting the potatoes. Why not? You know, the guru is not decided from the body, but by wisdom and knowledge. And mantra has great power. So if you have a mantra, don’t try to get a mantra from me. And if you have a mantra from me, do not try to get one from somebody else. Otherwise, the karmic destiny will be too heavy. Not being loyal to the Gurudeva, that is called Guru Drohī. Guru Drohī, Narakanai taught, even in hell, there is no space for that one. And stealing the Guru’s knowledge and saying it is my knowledge, there is also no space for that person. So, as I taught the day before yesterday, I taught yesterday and today also. I gave him the answer to his question; it was not my wisdom. Swami Sivanandajī, Mahāprabhujī’s disciple, Gurū Caraṇamayatsāra, so every question, everything which I tell, is from whom it is. So always, my teachings and glory to my Gurudeva. And I know that Mahāprabhujī, Devpurījī, and Gurujī, this is the trinity, is a great realization. But if you have a mantra from someone else, no problem. It’s very good. Still, you can adore Mahāprabhujī also. You can adore Jesus also. You can adore Sai Baba also. You can adore the Buddha also. Because in reality, light is light. That’s all. Some lights have a red filter, some have green, some have yellow, and some have white. But inside is the same power coming from one powerhouse, and that is the one God. I am that kind of simple person, but that is the truth. So don’t try to change the mantras, and there is no good constellation to change the mantras, except in the next life. So your mantra is very good if you have it, yeah? Don’t worry. I bless you with that mantra. If you got it from some master, if you only chose it from a book, that is different. Once, you must have the touching of the physical master. Now, if he or she died, no problem. The master never dies. Thank you, Indrajī. So, all dear ones around the world and here, sorry for the little disturbance from my flu or cough. I wish you a very nice Sunday afternoon. And the next webcast, we will see how it will be, maybe from India or from Vienna. It will be announced. When one’s birds fly, then you don’t know on which tree they will sit. So I go from here, London, and don’t know where I will land. So, I wish you all the best. The weekend was nice. Thank you, organizers. Thank you, everybody. Hari Om, Deep Nārāyaṇa, Bhagavān.