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Oṁ Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaḥ, Sarve Santu Nirāmayāḥ, Sarve Bhadrāṇi Paśyantu, Mā Kaścid Duhkha Bhāga Bhavet. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ. Blessings of the Alak Purījī Siddha Pīṭha Paramparā. To all dear spiritual seekers and devotees around the world, this beautiful satsaṅg today is very auspicious. This vikṣepa—mental, physical, and outer distraction—always disturbs our inner peace. Today is Monday here already. This island is the first to give the new date and the new sun to the whole world. The Fiji Islands are beautiful, like all islands. But beauty is hidden within ourselves. How you think is how you feel. How you see creates the world. Jai Siddradṛṣṭi, Jai Siddradṛṣṭi. The visions we project onto the outer world determine how the world appears to us. Today is Monday, the day of Bhagavān Sadā Śiva, and many people are fasting. Some are born into a culture or atmosphere where they automatically know what fasting means. In some cultures, this tradition is lost, but many religions practice fasting. In Islam, for one month they observe a very strict fast from new moon to new moon, eating or drinking only after seeing the moon. The Moon is a symbol of Śiva, an ornament of Śiva. When you see the new moon and look into the endless sky, if you are lucky, you may see the form of Śiva in a different way. They call it Roja in Urdu or Arabic. During this time, they do not even drink water. Those who observe it very traditionally and strictly do not even swallow their own saliva. There is an example from a few years ago: an elderly Muslim woman, about 96 years old, was fasting. She had health problems and was taken to the hospital. The doctors wanted to give her glucose infusions. She said, "My dear son"—for a 96-year-old lady has the right to call anyone her son or daughter, which creates a beautiful, harmonious relation—"don't forget it is Roja time, so don't give me this liquid injection." They respected her but said, "Mother, you will die." She replied, "What is dying? He who should die has already died. All my desires have died. I am happy. After a few days, it will be okay. Let me relax and take me home." She survived. God helped her. We call Him Malik. Malik means the Lord of all. Who is the Malik of this land? The landowner or lord? Malik or Khudā. Khudā means that Ātmā. Khudā means yourself, myself. Their concepts are so beautiful. The problem in religions is language. If all spoke the same language, there would be no problem. In Christianity, there is also what you call fasting, but it has remained symbolic. They fast and then eat fish; it makes no sense at all. People have weddings and go to spiritual places—temples, ashrams, mosques, or churches—for blessings, while at the same time they slaughter goats and other animals for the wedding lunch. Now, will God listen to your prayer for a happy marriage, or will God cry in pity for those innocent children, the animals that are slaughtered? Think logically. Humans should have mercy in their hearts towards all creatures. When you approach a tree, birds fly away. But if a cow goes under the tree, birds do not fly away. If you try to catch a fly, it flies away. Why? They have fear. The most dangerous radiation of hiṁsā (violence) emanates from human life. A bird sits on the head of a tiger. A bird sits on the back of a lion and enjoys. A bird sits on the tip of a crocodile's nose. But has any bird ever flown and sat on your shoulder or head? Why? Because animals know the most dangerous animal has come. Do not fly there. When we purify ourselves greatly, animals will trust us, like our house pets: dogs, cats, snakes, mice, birds, etc. They gain confidence and love and are no longer afraid. Therefore, for the development of spirituality and to come close to God, we must purify those negative radiations that emanate from us. Much of such negative energy comes to us through our food. Sāttvic food brings sāttvic, pure quality. If you say, "I'm religious, I believe in God very much, and I pray day and night," but what are you eating? "I will have fish." How did that fish come? Its world is the ocean. God gave it the freedom to live in the water. Humans, being very tricky, put something edible on a hook and throw it in the water to tempt the fish. The fish thinks, "This good human brought me good food." It swallows the hook, and you pull it out, the hook hanging in its throat. When you are eating and a little thing gets stuck in your throat, you cough and cough and drink water quickly. Can you imagine someone putting a hook in your mouth and lifting you with a crane? That fish doesn't die just once; it dies a million times from the pain. If the human heart has God inside—a holy heart—it would not do this to any creature. But we have to survive. Therefore, it is said: eat what is given, like grains and fruits. Do not cut all green things away. Why, when you can provide so much meat with so much work, can you not provide fruits, more grains, and good vegetables for the whole population? You can make your business there, but not in killing. So, fasting is inner purification. When inside is impure, you will always be angry, always doubtful, always thinking negatively. First, we love whom we want to love. The rest we say, "That's not good. This is not good. That's terrible." We don't want this from the one who is speaking. We don't want, "Who are you?" We don't think negative. Negative thinking means you are cultivating those germs in your body which will constantly pull you toward the negative. The ṛṣis established this tradition of fasting for the purification of the physical body. That body eats body; jīva eats jīva. Within us, we have so many germs and cells that are eating something. What we call immunity is that kind of cell in the body, hormones, which eat everything unnecessary. We have no limitation in eating, so the masters said, "Okay, eat as much as you like, no problem, but twice a week you must fast." Why? Because the excess food that remains in your body as fat or anything else will be digested by the body. Those who fast three times a week have a much smaller chance of getting cancer. Believe it or not, nowadays this disease of cancer comes because of the wrong way of eating manipulated food. There are even laws that you cannot drink milk directly from the cow. You milk the cow and bring it home, but it is not allowed. You must go to the dairy where everything is filtered and mixed with I don't know what. I was surprised last year in Australia. I was in a place, not as beautiful as Dreamview, but okay. It was so noisy with motor boats; you couldn't rest. Where there are humans, there is no peace. Here, you never hear the music of discos. There are many living beings; they are peaceful. They know it's time to sleep. Even the chickens, cows, and dogs are peaceful. Sometimes a dog barks to warn of a stranger, but when the stranger speaks, the dog says, "Okay, you are my neighbor, no problem." Anyhow, the place was called Sun and Sign. Whenever I'm there, it's only raining. I said, "But where is the sun? Why do you call it Sun and Sign Coast?" We have a yoga and day life center there. They always organize my stay in an apartment hotel on the 10th or 12th floor with a nice view. Manasadevī was with me. I opened the fridge and saw milk. We both drank it. It was labeled: not for human consumption, only for bathing—external use, not internal. The milk was brought directly from a farmer. The yoga organizers have good relations and can get this milk. You can get that untouched milk directly from cows in the supermarket, but it is written: "Don't drink, not for humans." And what you are supposed to drink has only pesticides and I don't know what else. People said, "Yeah, this is some law, so they have to write that, but we can drink, no problem." I said, "I have no problem, I will drink." I have nearly 2,000 cows, and all my cows are so happy. We don't milk them too much; they don't have so much milk. But our milk, our homemade yogurt, is like amṛta—nectar. That's what we call caraṇāmṛta. Our Mr. Reddy Sadashivam, the lord of Dreamview—when you dream, you should know who is controlling—we taught him how to make yogurt, and he fell in love with it. Yesterday he said, "Swāmījī, you said one should not eat yogurt in the evening, but I love it; it's so natural, so good." Fasting was designed for the good health of humans as well as for other creatures. Let your dog fast three times a week. Your dog will be healthy and may live two years longer. Dogs that live in farmhouses, free to run on hills, and dogs kept at home, unable to run even to the street corner, are as exhausted as humans. Many dogs have extra kilos, and today's life is suffering. Another point: on a fasting day, all unnecessary fat in the body is consumed, and Jāṭharāgni—the digestive fire from our Maṇipūra Chakra—becomes more active. It is like a fire: if we put too much fuel wood on it, it can't burn and just smokes. But if we let it be for a while without adding new wood, the fire becomes very strong and hot. We hardly give our Maṇipūra Chakra time to digest; we remain without taking something in the mouth for only two or three hours, myself included. It is easy to speak, my dear, but to follow is difficult. Suddenly someone asks, "Swāmījī, would you like to drink water?" "No, a little lemon. Okay, thank you." How far should the body system help us? If we control our hunger and thirst, our body will be healthier and have a longer life. Fasting also has a spiritual effect on our development. But many people do not understand or want spirituality. Why? Many people do not want to meditate. Why? Because when they meditate, or when spirituality develops in them, they are afraid. They are afraid of their past deeds. And what are the past deeds? Vṛttis, vāsanās. Vāsanā hi duḥkhāṅka kāraṇa hai. Vāsanā means desire is the cause of all troubles, and those desires, those vāsanās, paralyze you. It may be about eating, dressing, money, or any kind of desire. What you want makes you completely dependent. It is like overdosing on drugs; that's called being a dependent addict. Addiction means it asks for more every day. The word addiction means to add again more. Every day, add and add. Such a person will never overcome and will have no glimpse of the light of spirituality. Therefore, fasting and meditation make you aware. If you have that intellect, that intelligence, that love for thyself, when that vāsanā arises in you, as a human you will say, "No, finished." You can come and give me a glass of water, and I will say, "Thank you, nice water, I will drink." But if you bring a glass of vodka and say, "Swāmījī, beautiful, nice vodka, drink it," I say, "Thank you," but you must have the power to say no. Vodka is not bad; vodka never said, "I am bad." Vodka has its medical value, but it is not for putting in the body instead of water. A diesel engine, don't put petrol; a petrol engine, don't put diesel. Similarly, on a fasting day, have only water. If you can't resist and are hot and thirsty, then you may take pure water. Pure water—do not replace water with milk or juices. Juice and milk are not water; they are nourishment. On a fasting day, eat nothing with salt either. Should you eat salt? You consume more water. In diabetes and high blood pressure, doctors say, "Don't eat salt, otherwise the pressure will be higher." So, which kind of pressure will be higher when you go within thyself? Fast from evening meal until the next evening. Many say, "I can't. In the morning I get up and have to drink coffee." Then do one thing: in the evening, make everything empty. The fridge is empty—no coffee, no sugar, no bread. Nothing is in the kitchen. You can go to the kitchen, look at the coffee machine, but everywhere there is only water, no access to anything. So, clean yourself, perform pūjā, prayers, your ceremonies. Pray to God to bless you to become humble, kind, and merciful. At lunchtime, you can have water. Some people have problems, so they must have drinking water, no eating. But you think, "Okay, I can take some salt, salty." Nuts are not allowed, biscuits not allowed, cake not allowed, ice cream not allowed. In the evening, after work, come home, wash, take a shower, perform pūjā, praṭhanā to the God you believe in, and then prepare food as prasāda for God. While cooking, think positive and sing spiritual songs. Sing something good and feel happiness that you are doing something for God. That is great. How? It's very simple. A mother gives birth to a small child. When the child is about eight or nine months old and wants solid food, with how much love does the mother prepare something for the baby? That's it. Similarly, you should prepare food for God like a mother does for her child. After that, you offer it. Where there is food, God is Annapūrṇā. There will always be enough. Śaṅkara Prāṇa Vāhave, Bhikṣāṁ Dehi Parvatī. Oh Mother, Divine Mother Annapūrṇā. There is a big mountain in the Himalayas called Annapurna, on the border of India and Nepal. There is a beautiful Annapurna temple also, Mātācha Pārvatī. So, like Pārvatī is the mother of the universe, this mother is giving us. Pitā Devo Maheśvara. And the father is that Mahā Īśvara. Jñāna Vairāgya Siddhārtham—for knowledge, for dispassion, all to perfection, the Siddhi. O Divine Mother, give me now prasāda this. Brahmārpaṇaṁ—I offer to the Brahman. Whose offering is Brahman, who will eat is Brahman, and who will digest is Brahman. That becomes prasāda, and your fasting will be successful. One poet said very nicely: If you don't understand that Brahma is offering to Brahma, and Brahma itself is eating Brahma, and who is digesting is Brahma, I give you a very clear, simple picture. The poet said: Chamde kā bachḍā aur chamde kī gāī—a vessel made of skin and a cow also from the skin. And also, the skin is who is milking, and the skin drinks again from the skin. The cow who is milking and who is drinking—that example is for Brahmā. I offer to the Brahman in the fire of the Brahman, the digestive fire in the Maṇipūra Chakra. Brahmāgnau Brahmanāhutam—I am giving this āhuti, like svāhā, in that fire of digestion. So, my dear, fasting is very useful. First, for our good health. Second, to develop discipline. Third, it maintains health. Fourth, it maintains the economy in the house. Yes, can you imagine? For three days you don't have to eat and buy meals. You avoid breakfast and lunch, only dinner. You save a lot. Money is still with you. After eating, "I will have coffee after five minutes, ten minutes. Do you have ice cream?" See how the economy goes. He said, "Swāmījī, I have no money." That's why my fridge is always locked. When it's locked, they say, "What do you have, Swāmījī? Something secret?" Sometimes, mistakenly—or purposely—I leave it slightly open. It is open and inside is nothing except ice, frozen. So happy that day, we are having very rich dining. Positive thinking is food for the ātmā, food for the jīvātmā. Fasting is very good for vegetation, for nature. Let's say you eat fish every day. If for three days the whole city does not eat fish, how many fish are free and happy? And fasting is for spiritual development. We will continue, my dear. The next program is coming: Ātmanubhūti. Looking deep into the water, sometimes we look at the sky, sometimes at the forest and hills. This beauty outside, if you look, the beauty within—the bottom of the ocean—is even greater. Ultimately, you have to be peaceful. How? You have to realize that inner peace. Not like the sky; the sky has turbulence and many movements. Where is absolute peace? The bottom of the ocean. On the surface are waves, but deep on the bottom, it is motionless. Peace. And there is beauty of many corals and other creatures: jalachara, thalachara, nabachara. The beauty of the water. Don't just go swimming for fun and movement of muscles. Feel the father water. Water is the father, and earth is the mother. We are the children, so we are in the lap of the father and mother. So go and enjoy some nice makeup. This is called against the sun. Oh, that's beautiful makeup. Everybody, do this. Yes. My mother did so much, so that I'm now a very nice brown, you know. That's permanent makeup. So, I wish you a very nice time. Think over: what am I eating? Where did my eating come from? How did my eating come? A few years ago in Australia, there was a movement. On some people's cars was a sticker: "I am observing." I observe every little mosquito too. "We don't eat bananas. Don't buy bananas." Because bananas were exported from countries where their own children cannot eat them. You know, who was I? I read this sticker. That person is sitting here from Australia—that was Yamunā. True or not? You see? Yes, something like that. So you see, whatever I am telling, don't think Swāmījī is making stories. There is a reality inside. Go and enjoy and relax. I wish you all the best. To all my dear ones, I had different things to tell about fasting, but I didn't want to spoil your dinner this evening. I wish you all the best. God bless you, love you all, and bless you on Devpurījī's Maa Samādhi. Hmm, yeah, I can tell a little bit that's not good. I don't give a little; I give complete. Because the boat is waiting. Wake up, oh traveler. The train is coming. The train is coming, and the train will go. Wake up, Oṁ Śrī Traveller. God sleeps in ignorance. Hari Oṁ. Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ. Devīśvara Mahādeva Dīpa Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān Satya Sanātana. Hari Oṁ.