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It is a beautiful day; the sun is still shining in Vienna, Austria. A special blessing comes to you concerning karma and the soul. It influences how our karma, our deeds, affect our soul, what happens to our soul, and how we recognize our soul. I will now give the floor to the translator for English. I must speak a little in German, as I promised a year ago that I would. Otherwise, life in Austria would be difficult. Thank you for your understanding. The Effect of Karma on Our Soul This is the experiential tradition of the Trikāladarśī Gurudev. "Trikāladarśī Gurudev" means the Master who can see and has knowledge of all three times: past, present, and future. "Kāla" means time, and often "Kāla" refers to past times. In Sanskrit, we say Bhūtakāla, Vartamāna, and Bhaviṣya. "Bhūta" means past, and "Kāla" is time. Even in common language, anger is called a spirit, a vampire. "Bhūtakāla" is the past, "Vartamāna" is the present, and "Bhaviṣya" is the future. We also have knowledge of all these three times and periods. We have a knowledge that comes from the present. Other beings have more feelings about the future. Even the present and past are not as strongly felt by other living beings. According to Yoga and Vedānta philosophy, there are Sapta Bhūmikā, seven stages of consciousness. The highest, final stage is called Turīya. Turīya Ātman—whoever has reached this stage is Turīyānanda. Turīyānanda transcends the three worlds; he has realized bliss within himself. The one who has received this name has thereby been given the task to realize it. There were holy Masters who were Trikāladarśī. So, when a person came to a Master, the Master knew his past, present, problems, and future—where and how one could solve his problems. There is a clear answer or proof for this in our sacred book, Līlāmṛta, the divine play of Mahāprabhujī's life. In the presence of Mahāprabhujī, it was a beautiful, pleasant, and warm day. A beautiful day. I do not know whether it was morning or afternoon. I cannot say exactly, but about ten people were sitting next to Mahāprabhujī—Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī from Bārikāṭū, Rajasthan, India—and our beloved Master, Holīgurujī, or as we say, Śrī Svāmījī Mādhāvānandajī. We see the statue of both Masters. In the center is Mahāprabhujī, and then there is our Master Holīgurujī. And right at the beginning is Śrī Śiva Avatāra, Śrī Devapurījī. That is our great-grandfather, our great-grandmaster. Holīgurujī was beside Mahāprabhujī in his service, and suddenly there was a loud noise, an animal. Everyone was asking what was happening. Suddenly, people saw a huge, large cobra coming. It was said the cobra was very old; one could see its skin was vast. Most of the time, when people see a cobra, they unfortunately kill it. The people close to Mahāprabhujī took stones and wanted to throw them at the cobra. Mahāprabhujī said, "No, no... let it be, let it be." The cobra wanted to come directly to Mahāprabhujī. Holīgurujī was alarmed and said they would not allow it, that it would destroy. Mahāprabhujī said, "Everyone remain calm, step away a little, stay away from the cobra." The cobra went onto the bed of Mahāprabhujī, on which he sits in the sun. It was warm, perhaps not too cold, not too hot—a comfortable climate. The cobra sat beside Mahāprabhujī, stretching out its head and looking at Mahāprabhujī. Then Mahāprabhujī said to Gurujī, "Please bring me fresh water." "Fresh" means water from a vessel no one has drunk from. Pure water means you did not drink from this glass, but directly from the source, the spring. Then Mahāprabhujī was singing or reciting some mantras. No one knew these mantras except the cobra. Mahāprabhujī took water in his right hand, recited the mantra, and held the water over the head of the cobra. The cobra lowered its head and died. That means the cobra left the body. Then Mahāprabhujī stood up, greeted this breath of the cobra, and said to all his bhaktas, "This serpent shall be buried with a ceremony, with mantras, and with great honor, like a human being." And they did so. People asked Mahāprabhujī, "Lord Divine Master, Sir, what is your Līlā, this divine play? We understand nothing. What is your divine play?" Mahāprabhujī said, "The soul in this cobra was a great bhakta, a dedicated scholar, but he did not reach his goal. Suddenly, he spoke ill of his Master or thought ill of him. That brings the soul back into a lower body." How heavy is the life of a snake? No hands, no feet, no ears, and on top of that, finding food. Just as we have hands—when we find an apple, we can work with our hands—but the snake, the cobra, such creatures have only a mouth and must find something that fits. It is not easy. Mahāprabhujī said, "For many, many years he had gone through his karma, and now his time has come again. He has come to me to pray, to grant Mokṣa." And I said, "In the next life you will return as a human, but do not make this mistake again." Mahāprabhujī told him where his Master lives and how he would find his Master again. That was the story of a snake. That means Mahāprabhujī was Trikāladarśī. The experience of the Trikāladarśī Gurudev is boundless. "Anubhava" means experiences. "Erfahrungen" means knowledge. Experiences mean knowledge—unbounded, unlimited. Trikāladarśī. He knows all three times: what will happen, what has happened, what will be, and what is. Our advantage is that we meditate. We worship and pray to the Master or incarnation, who holds us in his grace, in his gaze, and one day he will liberate us. Sometimes, but certainly, our Master will sing something in our ears. For that, we must continue to practice, to chant our mantra. Do not show your disappointment. Do not show your anger. Never lose your trust. It doesn't matter what will happen. My God, true fortune we will find in your presence. For that, perhaps I must go through thorns, through stones, through fire and whatever else, but please allow us to find shelter under your canopy and let our refuge be in your Holy Feet. Second Story It is very beautiful. A saint, his name was Sāgraṁdās. To become holy, you do not need titles, you do not need higher education or university degrees. You need your inner purity and to work on yourself. Purity and work on yourself—give up these expectations. Ego is false. Our duty is to be here, that's all. If you make a wrong step, you have to face the consequence. As was said in this song: "Gurudeva mere jaba pāsa kari meṁ asa kāru ki sākiri ki sākiri." And so it is. But we are always changing our feelings, and we hide ourselves in the Lord. We are always changing our feelings, and then we do not know, and that is the consequence. Every time you have closed your eyes or have done something—perhaps your physical consciousness does not know it, but you know that you have done it, and that is enough. These consequences return to you, to your soul, because at this moment you are a soul. Although the prāṇa is hidden within you, the soul is even more sensitive, full of feelings. We identify ourselves with our individuality, with the individual soul, not with the breath. That is why, no matter who you are, we know what is happening and why. We also know. And then we say, "Oh God, why this one and that one? Why me, not others? He is to blame, or she is to blame, not I." If someone gives you a setback, it is your fault, not the other person's. He gives you a setback. If you were not here, he could not give you a slap. You are there. That's it. We can clap and make this sound with both hands; with one hand it's not possible. Or we need a cheek—and you were there. Therefore, accept it. When you accept it, you immediately feel better. But if you feel it strongly, you are like a pig that runs around. If you have problems or difficulties or pain, everybody is praying. But if you are happy, if you are healthy, if you are having a party, no one says "Mahāprabhujī." Even at parties, we say, "I am a person, I can also do something." Many people leave Mahāprabhujī's medal at home because they do not want to show it. How often do you put your Mālā down and then go back and forth somewhere? And I see—we will see again how quickly you will take up your Mālā. Such a saint was a very, very simple person. Perhaps he could not distinguish his name, or perhaps he could. All his bhajans and poems are in dialect. In his time, back then in India as well as throughout the entire world, there were kingdoms. Then suddenly a bad constellation came for all the kingdoms. It was a very unfavorable constellation for all the kingdoms—like a change of planets. Another constellation appeared, and suddenly all kingdoms became democratic. Now, all people support democracy because in democracy everyone has an opportunity, whereas with a king, only the first child of the king becomes king. Only the children of the king were becoming king; that was all. A dynasty was suddenly formed. A constellation appeared that no horoscope could help, no precious stones, no magic—nothing could help. It was difficult for the people to establish democracy. How much blood was shed, how many people died, how many wars there were—well, we will not go back there. So, a tax collector, a scribe of a king, was very arrogant and very angry. He was furious, without feelings, without emotions. He had taken almost everything away from the farmers. The policy was that all should remain poor. Everyone who worked the grains and all that—leave only enough so that they had something to eat. This man was very frightening. One day, all the farmers came to Svāmījī and said to him, "Svāmījī, the secretary, this tax collector, he is sucking our blood. He beats us. He is so cruel. He is so frightening to us." Svāmījī called this man, and he came and said, "Yes, Sir, what should I do?" He was very diplomatic. Svāmījī said to him, "You know, ordinary people need two eyes. But someone like you needs four eyes. Two are for worldly matters, and two so that you do not take your position as a ruler who destroys people, but rather you should see the people from your heart with these two eyes." He said, "Yes, yes... Svāmījī, that is very beautiful, that is very good. But you know, these people are so stubborn, they are so sorrowful. You do not know. Don't you know? You are only meditating, Svāmījī. Forget it. I will implement it. Tell me, what should I do for you? That is all. Hari Om." That means, "Come by." After a few years, the farmers came back. They succeeded because they went to Svāmījī. One day, the tax collector died, and his soul migrated into the next life as a camel. After three or four years, the camel was very young and strong. A man bought the camel to carry stones from a mine, a deep mine where at that time there was no crane, no tractor, no engines, no lorries. All they did was with animals for transportation and work. The life of a camel is such that it must sit down, then the load is placed upon it, and only then does it have to stand up. It must have good, strong knees—very strong knees. Young, strong, full-blooded, raw, intense. The buyer was also a young man. Through the nostrils of the camel, he passed a pin to make a ring out of wood with a rope. Now he had the camel under control. Slowly, slowly, he brought it down 50 meters deep into the mine. Of course, it was not like that; one could go steeply up or down. It had carried so many stones on its back, but now it could not rise. "Stand up now!" And the man hit it. The camel howled and wept. The man knew that when the camel wanted, it could stand up, but the lazy one did not want to. And he beat it, and the camel cried out and wept. Svāmījī walked past this mine on foot and heard that an animal was trapped in the mine. He came closer and looked into the mine; a man was standing there. Someone was destroying this... He went down and said, "My son, why are you swinging your arms here? You have piled up too many stones; remove two pieces, and then it will get up and go." "Did I say I have to walk here ten times?" And the man said, "Svāmījī, I must go ten times, and in those ten times I must carry twenty pieces. The next day I must go five times only for those pieces that I have now put down. My bamboo stick will teach him a lesson. He must get up. He was spoiled as a baby, but now it is day; he must work. That is how it is. A lazy man, when the Lord departs, then his wife takes the jacket. Now he must go to work. Is that right? Is it so?" "I will whisper a mantra into his ears. He will rise, and he will rise, and... he will rise." His name was Śāgraṁdās, the Saint of Śāma. Śāgraṁdās spoke to the camel: "My dear, now you need not weep. It does you no good. I have told you several times not to torment poor people, the farmers, but you did not agree with me. You had accumulated heavy karma, and the consequence is now present. These stones that have been placed on your back are not stones; they are the remnants of your karma, my dear. What has been abandoned by your karmas, my dear, tries to rise, to take all your strength and to leave. Greet your karma." This example clearly shows us that no matter what we do in our life, we are burdening ourselves. Sooner or later, in this life or the next, at some point we have to resolve our karma. Therefore, we have an opportunity here, in this life, to think normally as human beings. We can decide; we can use our feelings; we can use our Viveka through Bhakti and Tapasyā, through prayer, to reduce many, many life karmas. Therefore, Holīgurujī said in a beautiful bhajan: "You have life, life... life, life. O my brother, awaken! Your time passes. Your time slips away. You are sleeping in ignorance. And the result of this dormant ignorance will be that you will suffer in every life and you must go through it. Therefore, as a human being, awaken. Do something that is good for you and also good for others." You have been given a human life, not for money or for anything else. Everything we do is only for a short time, and then we must leave everything behind and go. What goes with us is our good karma. Sevā—the best karma, the best practice, the best devotion, the best path that will truly accompany you through many lives—is Sevā, Karma-Yoga. If you stray from Karma-Yoga, from the path of Sevā, then there is no one there who will help you. Sevā through your body, Sevā through your intellect, Sevā through your mind, Sevā through your consciousness... so that our soul becomes free from the heavy burdens of our body. Otherwise, we carry it ourselves. So, we have now one and a half hours. After one and a half hours, we will continue again with the effect of karma on the soul. Alright, all love, all the best. Until then, Siddhi Prāṇāyāma. Mahādeva, Mahādeva... Mahādeva.