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It is possible to appoint a Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara from every country, though it is costly. The goal is not merely to attain the title, but to reach that state. There is a rigorous test, but when I go and sit in that council, I say, "It's alright, let him pass." Then they agree, "Let him pass." This is because they see our paramparā. They see the dedication of the people—how they come from their own culture to embrace a different one. This is a very clear sign that we respect multi-cultures. Thus, we move from multi-culture to inter-culture. Inter-culture is a little more difficult. Multi-culture is easy to accept; we keep our own culture. 'Inter-culture' is a very tricky word nowadays—inter-religion, inter-culture. It is not like multiculturalism. Inter-culture means you marry someone from another culture, or similar things, which some countries do not like. That brings troubles. A very clear example, which you have not forgotten from just a decade ago, is the intercultural problem that caused conflict in ex-Yugoslavia. Between husband and wife, a big conflict arose, and people began killing each other because, "I am from here, and you are from there." Is this true? So, with inter-culture, you have to be careful. Multi-culture is acceptable, is it not, Brahmanandajī? Correct? So, they embraced inter-culture and then became a Mahāmaṇḍaleśvarī. But this means they should now not fight for Croatia, nor for India. Samdṛṣṭi—equal vision, non-duality—that is the real teaching of Śaṅkarācārya. Secondly, it depends on their abilities and knowledge. But there are two kinds of knowledge: one is literary knowledge, which does not mean a great deal. What matters are inner expectations, inner behaviors, and inner spiritual development. It is not that you merely got a position as a Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara. Gurujī said, "Be as humble as you are." Be surrendering; do not show that you are the highest one, but show humbleness. Through that, one attains a higher position. Laguta se prabhuta mele—the more humble you are, the more you attain a divine position. Prabhuta se prabhuta dur—but if you say, "I am this and that and that," then the quality of that position is finished. There was a competition between an elephant and an ant. They took one grain of sugar and threw it into the sand. The challenge was to retrieve only the sugar. The little ant, her majesty, went and took only the sugar grain, then raised it up and walked away. The elephant put its trunk in. It got the sugar, but brought up much more sand. This is the point. Holy Gurujī repeated this many times: Laguta se prabhuta mele, prabhuta se prabhuta dur kiri, sakar kha gayi, ati ke muktu lak. This was the translation of that poem. Therefore, it is like a bee, an apple tree, a mango tree, or a cherry tree. When the mango fruit arrives, the branches bow down and are nicely covered with leaves. When apples arrive, the branches come down and the leaves protect them. The cherry tree is similar. But there is one tree called maua; when it blossoms, all leaves fall down. The tree is completely naked, and its branches go upwards. From that, people make alcohol. So, the more wisdom you have, the more knowledge you possess, the more humble you should be. More humble. Humbleness. This is what we call higher thinking and simple living. Yes? Higher thinking and high-five living? Is this correct? No. Then please make corrections. How should it be? Repair me. How is it supposed to be? Oh, it is simple. Not a great life, but a simple life. 'Sim' means simple. Simple, no? Okay. That's it. So, higher thinking, simple living. With expectation, also simple living. But sometimes it is difficult. Gurujī once gave a beautiful example about the emperor, Sātrapati Śivājī. Do you know who Sātrapati Śivājī was? Does anyone know? Who was he? He was a warrior. Sātrapati Śivājī was the emperor of Maharashtra. A king, a very great person, he had one master, just as you have one master. Do you know who your master is? You must at least know who your master is—your wife or your husband. So Sātrapati Śivājī had one master, a very great one. Do you know his name? Of course, you do not know; you were not born in India. You learn only the history of Europe. His master was Swāmī Rāmdās. Because he was the master of the emperor, Rāmdās was given a beautiful residence in the palace and received that kind of service. But Rāmdās had no desires. The master of Rāmdās, the grand master of Sātrapati Śivājī, was traveling and giving satsaṅgs. He spoke about simple living. At the end of the satsaṅg, one man asked a question: "Gurudev, you are talking about higher thinking and simple living and being a saint. You are living in renunciation, so you are okay. But your disciple Rāmdās is living a royal life. Why don't you tell him to live simply?" So the master of Rāmdās said, "Okay, I will tell him." From the satsaṅg straight away, Rāmdās's master went to Rāmdās and knocked on the door. Rāmdās opened the door around one o'clock at night. "Gurudev, you are here? Why did you come? You should have sent a message; I would have come to you. Why did you take the trouble?" The master said, "Rāmdās, this luxurious life is not for us as sādhus. Come, follow me." Rāmdās did not say, "Wait, let me take my shoes," or "Let me take a shawl." He simply left. The door opened, and he left everything. This is a real story. They went into the mountains. At that time, there was a lot of forest and many wild animals—lions, tigers, all. Gurujī led him to a beautiful cave with a nice waterfall and sand, in the wild forest. Gurujī said, "This is your place to stay now, here." He did not leave him a single blanket, not a glass of water, nothing. He did not tell him who would give him food or how it would come. The Master went away about two or three hundred meters and sat somewhere on a rock with the people who had asked the question: "What about Rāmdās?" Sātrapati Śivājī went for a picnic that morning at four or five o'clock. When the king wanted to go, everyone went with him. When a president walks somewhere, even a helicopter hovers over the road. Around seven or eight o'clock, Śivājī told his soldiers, "Search for a nice waterfall where we can sit and have a picnic." Of course, they had all kinds of facilities on the backs of horses—beds, tents, everything. They were searching. One soldier was riding on horseback and saw Rāmdās sleeping. He was tired from walking so long and was still sleeping. The soldier ran back and told Śivājī, "Gurudev is resting here." Sātrapati Śivājī said, "It must be a hallucination. This is just the time all devotees come for his darśan." The soldier said, "Bābā, whatever it is, he is resting there." So Śivājī went himself slowly and carefully and saw that yes, the master was sleeping. Śivājī said, "Do not go to that side, anybody." He posted guards from a hundred meters away so that no wild animals would approach. He had them set up a tent, a fire, hot water for a bath, breakfast, a bed, everything—towels. He did not disturb him, and when everything was ready, Śivājī came and made praṇām. Rāmdās said, "Oh Śiva, you are here." He replied, "Yes, master, at your service. But what are you doing here, master?" Rāmdās told him, "Gurudev said to be here. I gave up everything." But now he had more comfort and more things than in his room. The master said to the people who had asked the question, "He is renouncing everything, but things do not renounce him. That is in his kismat." So every jīva brings with it... This means you accept and use necessary things, but not with pride. That is the difference. So, higher thinking and simple living does not mean you throw away everything we need; use it for your body. Similarly, one day Rāmdās was ill, and someone told him, "In Āyurveda, this disease can only be cured if he gets the milk of a tiger." So Rāmdās said to King Sātrapati Śivājī, "Śiva, you go personally and bring me the milk from a tigress in the forest, because that is pure milk." Now, going to get milk from a tiger mother—how hard and dangerous that is! Next time—telling two stories at once is not good. Therefore, thank you. The throat is getting clear. That was about Sātrapati Śivājī and the tiger's milk. So, ātmā-anubhūti, ātmā-jñāna, is not easy. And it is good that it is not easy. It is said that when you attain ātmā-jñāna completely, that level of samādhi, then you do not care about your body. At that time, you are without fear, and without fear you cannot exist. If someone has no fear, then you have to create and teach fear. So fear is a protection. If you have no fear, you will walk on the highway while cars are coming, and you will just walk. You know what happens, but you do not care because you are Ātmā. "For what should I live?" Therefore, that level of consciousness is kept reserved. Or you live somewhere in the forest in caves, and you close your eyes. You are dwelling in ātmā, but the body is nourished by prāṇa—prāṇa-nāriśma. So, in self-realization, you will have a glimpse. From time to time, you will get a glimpse, and you will live very much according to the principle of ātmā-jñāna. But still, you have the desires of this world. You have a thirst, and you should drink, and you will drink. You are hungry, and you should eat. With complete Ātmajñāna, then you do not care; it does not matter, drinking or not drinking. But when such a level comes, a person is not stupid. There are many people who write me letters. They do not say, "Dear Viśvagurujī or Swāmijī, Hi, Maheśvarānanda!" They write, "Now I am on the highest point of self-realization. I cannot say thank you, because there is neither you nor me. I am Ātmā. Yes, I can show you." So I write back: "Thank you for writing the letter. But I do not know how to congratulate the Ātmā." That's it. Therefore, many saints write about just a glimpse of their life, but they are still living in this world. Otherwise, they will not teach anything. They will not travel anywhere. They will not work like that. They will not say, "My ashram and my teaching." This is not ātmā-jñāna. This is one thing you should be careful about. But experiences come. From time to time in meditation, you have many experiences. The gleams are there. That is how Mahāprabhujī said: "Chetan kā chilka svāmīne dikhlā diyā, deva purīṣaṇe chetan kā chilka svāmīne dikhlā diyā." "Chilka" means the glimpse—just a glimpse of it. That sudden shining of the light, you know, like when a star falls, a shooting star. You say, "There, there, there!" Others say, "Where, where?" So, like this, through Guru Kṛpā, from time to time, such a glimpse of the divine light, Ātmanubhūti, comes. The rest is a normal life. Everything you do, as you are doing now. But when you get a little glimpse of ātma-anubhūti—therefore, it is called ātma-anubhūti, not ātma-jñāna. Jñāna and anubhūti are two. Anubhūti is experience, and jñāna is complete. And therefore, cintan—ātma-cintan. So when we are doing ātma-cintan, then that glimpse will come. You know that on television, there are certain channels with very nice pictures of tigers and such. But you know how many days or months they sit there to get such a picture. That tiger is not sitting for one hour; this was a glimpse. That's it. And so that is Chilka—a glimpse of the knowledge, a taste. At that time, your mind, your entire being, is overjoyed. There is one bhajan: "When I saw the glimpse, the picture of my guru-deva, my mind was overjoyed. Overjoyed, I forgot all other things." So, cintan, anubhūti, and ātmā-jñāna—these are the steps. You have had ātmā-jñāna many times. You do not know, but I saw it. Because when you have ātmā dhyāna, then your astral body is projecting in front of me. As you said, "I am ātmā," then go and practice, but be careful before you present yourself in front of some saint or in front of your master. Or in front of the mirror—but you know, ātmā is ātmā, but which ātmā? That's it. So, the ancestor who did not get liberation from the Pitṛloka is called Pitṛātmā. Pitṛātmā is suffering and creates immense troubles in your family. It disturbs your business. Many people's business is very nicely developed, and suddenly a dispute arises between a couple. Suddenly your dear wife tells you, "I'm finished." Karma comes back. So many, many marriages are broken because of pitṛ-ātmā. Some constellation illnesses, or you cannot get a child, or your children are so spoiled they do not respect you at all. So, Pitṛātmā—suppose there is a very big group of sheep or goats sitting peacefully in a meadow. About fifty or a hundred meters away, on a hill, something looks like a tiger. You know what happens? Many pigeons, many birds are sitting here. And one bird—what we call a hawk—comes. It does not do anything; it is only flying from one tree to another. All the birds are gone. Similarly, the Pitṛ Ātmā. Pitṛ Ātmā is still in the astral world, Pitṛ Loka. They call it in German Fegefeuer—ever suffering. Only their generation, their children, have to perform pūjā ceremonies and many things. That is why you go—the Christians go to the graveyard every All Souls' Day, not Halloween. No, no, no. Halloween is different. All Souls and Holy Souls, and that time exactly is called Pitṛ time. Eighty-six percent. All that is written in the Bible comes from the Purāṇas, the 108 Purāṇas, which were written ages ago, and there you see the same stories in the Bible too. How nice. So it means somehow we are together. So, Pitṛ Loka. Everyone is going. You go to the church. You perform a proper funeral. Every year you go there again, giving flowers. You believe in it. You believe in the soul. You believe the soul is here, or in liberation, or will be born again. If you do not believe, then after the funeral you will not go anymore to the graveyard. So, Pitṛloka. Then it is called the spirit. Spirit, ātmā, that disturbs your neighbors also. It can disturb anyone. Suddenly, an accident happens on the road. It is an attack of your pitṛ or a spirit. Then it becomes bhūtātmā. Bhūtātmā. You know what bhūtātmā is? It is because of ghosts. No, Premanenjī? One day, Premanenjī is fighting with five bhūtas. Constantly, he is fighting with the five bhūtas. Sometimes he is the winner, sometimes they are. But he is managing the five bhūtas. Which are the five Buddhas? No, no, no. Permanently have no krodha. Permanently above the karmas. Five Buddhas. Yes? These are fire Buddhas. And he is always fighting with the five Buddhas. But these are other Bhūtas. Bhūtātmā is the soul which had immense disappointment, immense fighting, bad karmas, and no liberation. So after the Pitṛloka, it becomes the spirit, and after the spirit, it becomes the bhūta. Bhūta-kāla is the past time. So all troubles from the past come to this side. That can disturb your profession. It does not let you be successful. So, I was thinking, if you would like to know more and make a nice ceremony, we can organize it here. Hands up. Thank you. As many hands are up, 10% more is the Buddha, Ātmā, and the Spirit, and the Pitṛs are here. And we will do it individually, not in a group. Because in a group, it is possible, but then they are fighting. Yes, they are fighting that day: "I am first, I am first." So this is just science; it is not a joke. Everyone believes. Whoever does not believe will never perform the ceremony in the religion. If you do not believe in God, so-called, one is an atheist. But atheists will also do funerals. If he or she is doing a funeral, for what? You do not believe in anything. So there is no human who does not believe in something. It must not be some religion or God, but a belief inside. So, ātmā cintan, ātmā anubhūti, ātmā jñāna, and then becoming self-realized, slowly, step by step. Because if you have a very high ego, you will fall down again. From down, you cannot fall down, but from up you can fall down. To come up was hard, but to fall down from up is not only hard, but you land in a very comfortable bed—an orthopedic operation theater. So there is a science, and this modern way of living, this modern way of education, has cut the human roots. The human roots are rotten. But the suffering branches are what he is leaving now. So we have to show love and respect to everyone, to nature also, to water also, to herbs also. We say, "Sarve sam svastir bhavatu"—everywhere should be health. And the śānti pāṭ, no? "Oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ"—our hearts, they should also have peace. But they have no peace because they are in a bed of illness. Because of urea and pesticides, how can they have peace? Apaha, also peace in the water, in the air, in the sky, in the world, even in Brahman himself and in myself. Peace, peace, peace. So Ātmānubhūti is a very beautiful subject, but do not celebrate today. Wait. In summer seminars, we will come again point by point; we will do the practices. So for today, that is enough. I wish you all the best, and we will announce the next webcast. Blessings to everyone. Now you understand higher thinking and simple living. Higher thinking and simple living. A question remains: What is the difference between self-respect and ego? Next time.