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Śrīmān Nārāyaṇa Nārāyaṇa... Śrīmān Nārāyaṇa Nārāyaṇa... Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Dīp Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa,... Dīp Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Dīp Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Dīp Nārāyaṇa,... Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Dīp Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Dīp... Nārāyaṇa, Dīp Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Dīp Nārāyaṇa, Dīp... Nārāyaṇa,... Deep Nārāyaṇ, Dīp Nārāyaṇ, Nārāyaṇ, Dīp Nārāyaṇ, Nārāyaṇ, Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ, Bhagavān, Kī Jai, Devādidev, Deveśvar, Mahādev, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī, Bhagavān, Kī Jai, Satya Sanātana Dharma, Kī Jai. Blessings to all of you, Alakh Purījī, Siddha Pīṭh, all dear ones in this hall and in different parts of the world who are with us through webcast. Welcome, and I am happy to see you. We are in the middle of our seminar. Next week, or tomorrow, a new seminar, a new session begins. Without practice, we cannot achieve. Bhakti, devotion, is also a practice. Without bhakti, you cannot do karma yoga. And you cannot do karma yoga without jñāna yoga. And you cannot practice jñāna yoga without rāja yoga, the discipline. So we cannot say, “I am a bhakti yogī.” If you do only bhakti and nothing else, then you are the lazy one—just sitting all day singing God’s name. God said, “Go and work, then I will give you something.” But someone said, “I have heard that you should just sit and remember God all the time. People will give me things; I don’t want to do anything.” So, like a workaholic, he became a bhakti-holic. Day and night he called, “Rām, Rām... Rām.” Rāma is the incarnation of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, born in the dynasty of the Raghus, to King Daśaratha. And Kṛṣṇa is also in the Yādava line, the son of Devakī and Vasudeva. It doesn’t matter which name we say; finally, we come to the same point. We can say Bhagavān Rām, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, Bhagavān Dattātreya, etc. Ultimately, there is only one Bhagavān. It doesn’t matter which language you speak; there is only one whom we call God. Therefore, God has no title. He is not Mr. Professor God Kṛṣṇa or Dr. Engineer God Rāma. It is short and sweet: just Rām, Kṛṣṇa, Jesus. You don’t say, “My God, Professor Dr. Jesus.” So, as short as good. Now, in this modern civilization, we are coming again to micro things—smaller and smaller and smaller. We used to carry a whole suitcase full of video cassettes; now we carry a little stick of the old cassette in one small bag. So that bhakta was not practicing discipline, not working, not doing anything—all of us, God’s name, day and night. One day, he died. Coincidentally, two persons died at the same time. One was a Karma Yogī, Bhakti Yogī, Jñāna Yogī, Rāja Yogī—doing all kinds of work: farming, this, that. Morning, evening, and noon, he had a little time to remember God. “My Lord, my life is worship to Thee. Work is worship.” From time to time, he remembered God. Both died. They died about two-thirty in the night. So they were knocking on the door of heaven. The gatekeeper opened the door and said, “The two bhaktas have come. Please allow them to enter Svarga Loka.” God said, “Who are these?” “One is that one, the other is this farmer.” “Oh, that one who is day and night chanting my name?” “Yes.” “And the farmer who works the whole day?” “Yes. Bring the farmer into heaven. That one, day and night, disturbs me—I can’t sleep in hell. I can’t sleep. All the time he is calling me, calling, calling.” So, if you telephone the emergency fire brigade all the time, they will think you are not normal. Bhakti has its place. Karma has its place. Sevā. Seva Dharma is one of the greatest Dharmas. There was one barber who lived in the state of Gujarat in India. Being a barber, the king used to call him every day at exactly nine o’clock; he had to be there to shave the king. Unfortunately, the king had a leprous disease. So the barber, exactly at nine o’clock, was there every day. He was a great bhakta, the barber, doing seva. One day, at about 8:30, he was on his way to the palace. About ten sādhus came, a maṇḍalī, a group of sādhus. The barber greeted them. They said, “Bless you, Bhakta.” He said, “Praṇām. What about your breakfast, all saints?” They replied, “We left very early, so breakfast—Bhagavān, God will give us somewhere.” The barber was a great bhakta. For him, the orange cloth was the highest thing, because this is the color of Lord Śiva. This is the flag of Śiva. So the flag is higher than the country itself; the whole country is in the shelter of this flag. It represents the whole country. There is a beautiful bhajan from Mahāprabhujī where he says, “This orange flag of Hindustān is worshipped from ages and ages. Pūjanīk Adhi Anādi Śiv Śaṅkar Kī Gaḍī,” because this belongs to the holy place, holy chariot, holy chair, holy āsana of Bhagavān Swayambhū Śiva. That must be the one whose orange robe was adorned. It means that if you go to India now and wear an orange shirt and an orange skirt, it does not mean people will say praṇām to you. You must have that initiation from that tradition, from that Gāḍī—this is Śiva Gāḍī. The story within the story. So, I will tell this story after. That barber was a great bhakta, and he invited them home—eleven to fifteen people. His wife was also a great bhakti. But it takes a little time to prepare breakfast for fifteen to twenty people. I see here in the West, to prepare breakfast or food for twenty to fifteen people, you take three days. You invite five people to your birthday party on Sunday, but you are cooking and buying from the supermarket and putting it in the fridge already two or three days before. This is a very clear indication that you don’t know how to cook, you don’t know what fresh food means and what old, tāmasik food means. Therefore, we adore, thank, and are proud of our Indian ladies. She will not say no. And she will, within half an hour, maximum one hour, prepare everything—varieties, not only one cup of tea. She will not say, “Oh God,” she will not say, “Husband, are you stupid? What should I do now?” No, no, she is happy. God gives everything. So he said to her, “Sit down, please. Wash yourself and make yourself comfortable.” He ran, brought fresh milk, fresh vegetables. She was cutting vegetables while the dal was cooking. She put the vegetables there; at the same time, she was making halwā, dāl, halwā, vegetables, and chapātī, all four at once. And at the same time, she takes the thālī, cleans it, and sets it. Are you not proud of such a mother? Are you not thankful to such a wife? Do you know what the abilities and talents are? For her, it is a left-hand game. This is only a left-hand game—not even the right hand. The right hand will be when fifty or one hundred come. Abhyāsa, abhyāsa kānte hey, abhyāsa, Arjuna, practice, practice, practice. You are driving a car. You know what’s happening behind, you know what’s happening left and right, and you know what’s happening in front. And you know what? Your friend is talking to you. In one hand, you have the steering wheel, and in the other hand, you have the telephone. And on the street, a cigarette is lying there; you pick it up. And comfortably, you are driving. Practice. Practice. Therefore, learn cooking from Swamiji.tv. Everyday cooking class is out, vegetarian. In forty minutes, she served dāl, halwā, and vegetables, not only chapatis and parathas, and prepared fifteen donation envelopes, cleaned the thālīs, and told her husband, “Dear, please be kind and serve them.” Yes, there are some ladies here who are sitting; they can do it. Some have been trained with me for thirty years. I’m not telling you things from a website. The training was hard for me—how many times I had to swallow uncooked chapati. But until then, Dr. Shanti became perfect. I asked, “Please, can you make chapati for me?” So perfect. Therefore, if you don’t learn anything, don’t worry. Learn cooking. That is your future: we will turn Kali Yuga into Satya Yuga. From the six philosophies, there is one more called Pakṣaśāstra, like Upaniṣad or Āyurveda. In Āyurveda, there is a chapter called Pakṣaśāstra. Āyurveda can turn poison into nectar, and Āyurveda can make solid—what you call quicksilver, mercury—into a solid. Anyhow, that’s why all Indians have good brains for study. When there are examinations in America, there is a local saying: “If there’s an Indian student, oh, don’t worry, he’s Indian, he will pass with the best number.” To whom should we give thanks? His mother. Sometimes, when the mother is not at home, the father goes and buys pitta bread, pizza, and puts it in the microwave. When you put everything in the microwave, you need not eat anything because there is nothing—just filling this little pipe for the tenth time. Know something? So I was living with Mother in Vienna, Matajī, and someone brought a microwave. I was so delighted: in half a minute, my dhal was hot. What a siddhi! And Matajī said, “Throw it away. We don’t even feed a dog with this.” Ok, Matajī. You must obey the mother and learn from her. And if you don’t learn from your mother, then you surrender to your wife—she will teach you. If not, then get ready to pack your luggage and find another apartment. So that your wife is so great. If she can cook, otherwise you can’t swim, and she can’t swim, both fall in the water. I tell you, I’m not making a joke. The source, the strength, and the only hope to remain in life is cooking—cooking natural things, that must be energy inside. Well, she prepared paratha, halva, chapati, dal, and vegetable for fifteen people in forty minutes, prepared the plates and envelopes. If you feed some sādhus, then it is tradition that you give some donation. We make a joke: for what donation? Sādhu said, “Because while eating, my teeth were polished, so this is a tax for my teeth”—meaning my teeth become smaller, that’s called dadgisai. That is a little joke. Well, the sādhus were eating slowly, and that barber totally forgot that he had to be at nine o’clock at the king, who was very ill and had more anger. As weak as you are, as strong the anger you have. But he was a bhakta, he forgot. The sādhus ate. At 11:30, they went. And now he said to his wife, he took his bag and went to the king. Of course, he was very nervous. “Today, I don’t know what the king will do with me.” So he went. He came to the door of the palace. And four people came to welcome the barber, saying, “Please come, the king is so eager to see you.” He went there. The king stood up and bowed down to the barber. The barber thought, “Am I dreaming? What happened?” Then he said, “Yes, your highness, I’m sorry to come late.” The king said, “What a miracle you had in your hands! Today, when you were serving me, you touched my body, and look—my leprosy has disappeared. I am so thankful, obliged for lives and life.” The barber was thinking inside, “Thank you, God. Thank you, my Lord.” So the king gave him a lot of things: land, a house. His name was Sain Bhakta, Bhakta Sain. God came for the sake of the bhakta and to save the king. He took the form exactly like Sena Bhakta. So, for the sake of the bhakta, God does anything you want. In India, when we see the barber, we don’t say barber—we say Sena Bhakta, and there is a big, big temple there in Gujarat. And these whole professional people, they are respected. And there is a Bhakti Senāchārya; he is a friend of the best friend, he is also Mahāmaṇḍaleśvarānanda, and he is living in Jodhpur. So what I want to tell you is that saints or Gurudev take upon themselves the destiny of the devotees. That means God takes upon Himself the destiny of the bhaktas or the saints. And the saint’s bhakti? Bhakti as a saint doesn’t come with a cloth. It is inner dedication, inner pure devotion. And through that, anyone just saves the head and takes this orange cloth, and you walk. Automatically, they will give you the place. There was a time of the Turks in India; they were called Badshah, like emperor. Some Badshahs were great; the last one was destructive. So the Badshah, when he used to go somewhere, it was a big preparation. He was riding on an elephant; there were elephants, horses, and camels. There was music and drums. He even went to the lake for a bath. One day, there was a man who had a donkey. He was bringing something on the donkey’s back, loaded with some mud or something. And that big bag hanging on the donkey’s back had a hole. The owner found somewhere an orange cloth and repaired that hole with this orange cloth. The procession of the Badshah was passing. That man was standing on one side with the donkey. Badshah saw an orange cloth on it. He told his lord to stop the elephant. He got down, bowed down, put one golden coin on that orange cloth, and went away. The owner of the donkey thought, “My donkey is holy! Even the Badshah is adoring.” He came home, told his wife, and they took the shampoo. They cleaned the donkey very nicely—a lot of water and sandalwood everywhere, a little bit on the ear of the donkey, and nose, and everything. He was wondering, “What karma do I have now? Maybe this was my good karma.” And they were massaging the leg of the donkey because it was tired, then hung some ornaments in the ears and on the neck, and fed it nicely. That was only for one day of good karma from a past life for this donkey to enjoy. Then it will be the same. Sometimes you have good, happy days, happy hours. That was something from the past; you got it on your credit, you enjoyed your credit. If you go to the bank again, “Please give me my credit,” nothing is left. Your account is empty. You have received your credit. So, my dear, great Guru Nānak said, “Sab din hote ek samān,” every day is not an equal day. So it was happy, but that’s all. But how to make that happiness everlasting? Surrender. Give it to God. Then God will prolong it. The next day, again at eleven o’clock, the Badshah was going to some place, and that man brought the donkey in front, moving the donkey in the front, left and right. Badshah said to his minister, “Hunt away this donkey.” So he said, “Hey, move the donkey away.” The man said, “But yesterday, Badshah was surrendering to this same donkey.” Badshah said, “Not the donkey—I adore that orange cloth of the holy saint, that was a fakir. Remove your donkey, otherwise my elephant will remove it, and then you can take the bones of her donkey.” So, my dear. “Kārkī gaḍī bhagavān jhandā Hind deś pūjanī kayādī ādādī.” Therefore, this is the flag. And so, in the Indian flag, on the top is orange. That is the color of renunciation. The great warriors, the Kṣatriyas, died to protect the Hindu Dharma. There was a battle between the Mughals and the Kṣatriyas, the Hindus. It’s a long story. The last king of Rajasthan, Udaipur, Mewar, Mahāraṇā Pratāp, etc. So when they occupied the palace in Chittor, it was a very small army of the Hindus, the Kṣatriyas, and they wanted to capture all the queens of the kings. At that time, the Kṣatriyas took the orange cloth, the pītāmbara, and pītāmbara is the color of fire, and with one slogan, “Har Har Mahādeva,” they went into battle, and they won. At the same time, the queens did not want to surrender to the Muslims. So when the husbands and their sons left, they knew that they had no chance to survive, so they made a big fire, jumped from the palace into it, and gave their lives. So you see, dharmaḥ rakṣitaḥ rakṣitaḥ—not to surrender. Satya Sanātana Dharma, that is satsaṅg. So these are the glorious land and glorious saints. I am only telling you these—what I heard, what I saw, what I read, I just give you. These are the words of the satsaṅg of Holī Gurujī. And we have a dharma cakra in our flag. That was from the great emperor, Cakravartī Aśoka. And that’s why this is Dharma Cakra. So, we have to dedicate, learn, and surrender. Otherwise, karmas will come back—it doesn’t take time. Time doesn’t wait for anyone, and karma doesn’t leave anyone out. Therefore, surrender. Guru Deva Śaraṇātho. Who was singing? Noon. Come. Philip, come. Guru Deva, Śaraṇ Tumhārī Cintā Merī. They are gone, but they left everything here for us. If we follow, it’s our benefit. If we don’t follow, it is our bad luck. So, wish you all the best, and tomorrow’s webcast will be again at 8 o’clock in the evening. Tomorrow is the changing of the week seminar, and we have some organizational meetings, but the programs will be here. So we have great sannyāsīs here; they will keep you busy. So from my side, Hari Om and good night. Many blessings of Śrī Alakhpurījī.