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This weekend we repeatedly return to the same theme: Āprokṣa-Anubhuti, self-realization, according to the teaching of Ādiguru Śaṅkarācārya—Brahma Satyaṁ, Jagat Mithyā. Brahman, the supreme Self, God, is reality, and the world is unreality. There are 8.4 million different species of living beings. All are created from the five elements: fire, air, earth, water, and ether. These five elements have formed our body, and God, within this physical body, has made Himself at home. In this body, God dwells in the form of breath. Ātmā is a part of God, the essence of God. Therefore, Śaṅkarācārya and all realized masters say there is no difference between your own true self and God Himself. For example, we have here in a bottle water from the Gaṅgā. The water is from the Gaṅgā. It is the same water as in the Gaṅgā itself. So, in this small bottle, the Gaṅgā is contained. We have limited it through this small vessel and poured water into it. But the water will remain inside only as long as this bottle exists. Afterwards, the water is reunited with water. And so, dualism persists as long as our body exists. When the body gives way, then the ātman reunites with the Paramātmā, the Supreme Self. But until this Ātmā is united with Paramātmā and we gather these experiences, this realization, it is a long path. There are several bottles, there are several views within this bottle, until the liquid is set free. And so, we have different types of bodies: the physical body, the astral body, the causal body. These various bodies form or remain together, just as our karma dictates. Karma holds great significance for all living beings. It is karma—our actions. And the actions are individual. God forces no one to do anything. We do it to ourselves. We are creating something. Karma is released. No one is forced to do anything. It is free. And the kind of karma we create will be our future. There is a small example, a little story. This story shows that one should not blame anyone when something happens to you. It is your actions, your decision. The fault is always your own. But we try to shift our guilt onto someone else, and then we believe that we feel lighter or victorious. Everyone wants to have a victory in their subconscious, to be successful. Yes, it is our right that we should be successful, we should have a victory, but how? Not by oppressing anyone else, not by neglecting anyone. It is to live a life without challenges and competitions. Such a story says there was a master, a teacher, a master in the Gurukula. Gurukula is a boarding school. The Gurukula was then with the master in the forest or in a hut, or several huts. The students lived there and studied. Sometimes there are good students, sometimes there are difficult students. And sometimes there are students who just want to play around with the master and annoy him. There are some masters who allow themselves to be angered, and some who do not. Some masters give good teachings, no matter what a student does. So, there were two or three students who said, "Today we will test our master. He always says, 'The Master knows everything, the Master knows everything,' and we will prove to him that he knows nothing." There is another story, it goes like this: There is a priest or a bishop or someone like that, and he has a very beautiful room with thick, heavy curtains. So, when he always goes to sleep, the curtain is closed and drawn, so it is completely dark, no light at all comes in. He likes to sleep longer, until around 10 o’clock or so. And then his assistant or apostle, or I don’t know what you call someone in service, his disciple, he comes in the morning and says, "Good morning, Master, it’s a beautiful day today, the sun is shining and everything." And he says, "I know it." He says, "He devours, my God, how is that possible? He is asleep, the curtains are drawn, he has not gotten up, how does he know? He knows the beautiful day is gone." He always comes back and says, "Oh Master, today is a beautiful day, the sun is shining." He said, "I know it." He said, "My God, how do you know that?" Once there was such a dreadful day, cold and rainy and dark, and altogether an uncomfortable day. And he comes and says, "Master, today is a beautiful day, the sun is shining." He said, "I know it." He drew back the curtains and said, "You know nothing at all. It is a bad day." So the spiritual masters are not like these worldly masters. There are two types of masters. A worldly master is a schoolmaster. So we are all worldly masters. You are numerous worldly masters here now. And there is a divine Master, just like Mahāprabhujī. The students had decided that today they would test the Master a little. "That proves nothing. We will prevail, and the Master will then reveal the truth." Two or three students came to the master, and one of them had caught a bird in his hand and hid his hands behind his back. He approached the master and asked, "Master, if you know everything, then I ask you, we... You have a question: what do I have in my hand?" The Master said, "You have a bird in your hand." He said, "That’s right." But everyone was watching, thinking, "What do we do now? Nevertheless, we want him to lose and for us to be the victors." They were discussing, and then one of them asked, saying, "Now we will ask the Master whether this bird is alive or dead." It was alive in his hand, the bird. "When the Master says it is alive, we immediately press so that it dies. And then we prove to him that it is dead, not alive. And when he says that it is dead, we will show him that it is a living bird." Then they said, "So, dear Master, please tell us, if you know everything, whether that bird is alive or a dead bird." The Master said, "My dear disciple, whether the bird is alive or dead depends—it also depends on your hand. It is in your hands, your life. It will be as you wish." And so this story ends, as it should: your life will be so. And not what you ask someone else or what someone else says. And you do nothing, or you do the opposite. Do you have trust in those you ask something, or do you only test them? Do you have enough trust in your master to accept what he says? Or are you merely playing a game and taking a test? We never know whether your master, in what he says, is presenting a test or a teaching within it. A student does not ask the master 'why' for nothing. If the student understands nothing, then he waits and reflects and prays, "Lord God, dear Master, let me know. May the time come when I know why." And then we will be happy that we have done the nothing, which we absolutely wanted to do. Our karma, how our life is now, how it will be in the future, whether we achieve something or nothing at all—we need clear thoughts, trust, and a surrender. Such a devotion that nothing and no one can take us away. Realizing the divine Self within our own consciousness, within our own Self—self-realization—is not easy. It requires much effort, much discipline; it takes a long, long time. And as long as one lives in duality, one is always in ignorance. Then there exists as Self a person, an individual. And so, either you wish to exist as you are, from your own Self, or you wish to become one in God with God. Be certain: when you become one with God, you are not God; rather, God will always remain God. And as long as you want to be your own self, then you are not God either; you are your own self as an individual. The difference between us and God is that we possess such qualities, and it is the quality that determines. Whether we possess a human quality or a quality of a demon, a murderer, a Rākṣasa, Asura, Deva, or the divine Self. As long as there is sugar in the water, the water will always taste sweet. That means sugar exists. But when sugar gives up its taste, then no one can say that there is sugar in the water. The quality is very important, the attributes. Every individual has their own qualities. And we are to work on purifying these qualities: namely ego, doubt, hatred, greed, jealousy, anger, envy. None of these negative qualities exist in God; God has no negative qualities. And we ourselves know very well which qualities we still possess. Or we stand above things. We are above things as long as the things are not present. But as soon as they are present, then things are beyond us. So, nobody can judge, no one can condemn, as long as one has not been confronted with it or encountered it oneself. And this is precisely the point of testing. Like a story from long ago, I have told it several times. A student comes to the master and says, "Master, now I am one with God. I have reached the highest level. Nothing exists within me at all. No anger, hatred, suffering, greed, jealousy, nothing at all, Master." The Master said, "It gives me great joy. To have such a disciple is directly a liberation for the master as well." So that means the Master has fulfilled his task in this world. And now the Master himself is the Master; he will abide forever with his own highest Self, and he gives tasks to his disciples. But the Master wants to be absolutely sure. He said, "Then you sit beside me and show me your state." He said, "Yes, do that immediately. I will meditate, and you will see how far I have come." So, he sits in lotus, sitting very straight, strict like this—that is called a Neuyogī, a beginner. He sits there all tense, and after 20 minutes, 30 minutes, he speaks. "Students. Master, although it is very difficult for me to speak here, because I stand above the Indriyas—not even a conversation Indriya can touch me—still I must come back a little, one step. Nothing exists within me. No hatred, no suffering, no anger. Nothing. Master, you exist within me. I am Nirākāra, Nirguṇa, Nirañjana, Siddhānanda, Svarūpa, one with the sky. I am like a sky." And the Master knew where he is. The master takes a bamboo stick and strikes his head. Strongly, fearfully. And the disciple sprang from his meditation with such anger. His eyes were like the eyes of a demon, red. And he says, "Have you gone mad? How can you do that? What have I done to you?" The Master said, "You have done nothing at all. You told me that nothing exists within you, but I am surprised—where does this anger come from here? There is absolutely nothing within me. No hatred, no suffering, no anger, nothing. But Master, you exist within me. I am Nirākāra, Nirguṇa, Nirañjana, Siddhānanda, Svarūpa, one with the sky. I am like a sky." And the Master knew where he is. So the master takes a bamboo stick and strikes it on his head. Strong, fearful. And the student jumps out of his meditation with such anger. His eyes were like the eyes of a demon, red. And he says, "Have you gone mad? How can you do that? What have I done to you?" The Master said, "You have done nothing at all. You told me that nothing exists within you, yet I am surprised. Where does this anger come from now? It does not come from me, my dear. It comes from your trembling, from your writhing, from your consciousness." And so, it is always beautiful to say, "I am healthy," or "I am successful," and so on. But we do not yet know which qualities still exist in which corner of our consciousness. How many black spots do we have on our consciousness? And as long as these qualities exist within us, these attributes, we will always be individual. We are always individual existing beings—not living beings, but beings. The term "living being" is used only here when referring to the physical planes, but the essence still wanders in the astral planes, like a soul or spirit or whatever one may call it. He finds his liberation only through the human body, birth in the human body, through good deeds, through devotion, and only through Guru Kṛpā. And to attain this Guru Kṛpā, one needs to understand Guru Śiva and Guru Vākya. The words of the master who understands nothing—then he cannot perform Śiva. Some understand the words only on the intellectual levels, try them for a while, and then say, "I know this too." Anyone can read a Bible; perhaps anyone can read it beautifully and explain beautifully what is written in the Bible. But the same Bible, when it is a consecrated priestly text, has a different effect, has a different effect on our consciousness. And therefore, the words from the Master, when you hear them directly and receive instructions from the Master, have a completely different effect than when you read it yourself and think, "Aha, so that is how it is. It is so." And that is why the Satsaṅga is very important. Going into Satsaṅga and during the time in Satsaṅga, when someone speaks, in those persons the Satguru, Guru Vākyas speak. The words of the Master are all sacred scriptures: Bhagavad Gītā, or Rāmāyaṇa, or Vedas, or Upaniṣads, or Qur’ān, or Bible. All these beautiful sacred books are the words of the Master. So, first understand the Guru Vākya, and then perform Guru Seva. One should perform seva without expectations. Serve selflessly, not selfishly. Although we have a selfish thought with Śiva, that we will receive Kṛpā, Guru Kṛpā. We will attain our Mokṣa, we will have our development, higher development. We will liberate ourselves from our karma or sins. But such selfish thoughts are healthy. So, no selfish thoughts for the material world, but spiritual thoughts. When the seva is proper and carried out for years, months, and years, or for yugas and yugas, when the disciple performs their seva, then perhaps Kṛpā-dṛṣṭi will be a glance filled with grace. And when a glance is filled with grace, those moments become indescribable; in that instant, the master and the disciple are united in the Highest itself. The master can bestow a glance a thousand times, but it is not the glance itself, because the disciple has not yet attained that purity or that stage. The student consciousness should also be transparent. And when the student consciousness is transparent, then the gaze of the Master is like a sun, shining through and through. To be the sun, there is a deep wall here and curtains; light does not come in. And so the master is there, he always looks, he gazes at the disciple, but nothing gets through. So we wait for the moments when our consciousness is suddenly pure. And the master looks inside; it enters like a flash of lightning. And therefore, in our lives it is important that we reflect on what we do, why we are here, and what we have achieved so far. How much effort have we made, here and there, everywhere. Let us finally, finally decide for something, for eternity. And good deeds always bear good fruits. Good deeds always bear good fruits. Try to be like a flower, very delicate, very gentle, very beautiful. If you cannot be a flower, then please do not be a thorn. Sometimes people say, "He or she is like a thorn in my eyes." We strive, Fathers, for the great-grandfather of the mother-in-law, so how many generations there are, the uncle of your great-grandfather, the mother-in-law’s great-grandfather, who gifted it, and suddenly your husband mistakenly let it fall from his hands and it broke. Now you must not start rolling the dough on the poor man. Now think, it could be like this. You are the one from whose hand the vase fell, and now your husband wants to beat you with the whip. How do you feel then? Although there is nothing easier than losing and grieving over such a precious vase, it does not matter. It does, but still, one wise person says, Śaṅkarācārya says, what is created will one day be destroyed. Whoever is born is destined to die one day. When one has built a house, one day the house will surely be dismantled. And that is the Ghaṭākāśa, Maṭākāśa, Cidākāśa, Mahākāśa, Ākāśa. So whatever is within the Ghaṭākāśa, within the vessel, the space, is indestructible. But the vessel will eventually, perhaps in three million years, break. And so, nothing is eternal except Ātmā. Ātmā, Jñāna, self-realization, self-knowledge, is the goal of human life. Sleeping, eating, drinking, and building a house animals can do as well. There is only a small difference between animal and human. Some animals have two above here, and humans do not. So human beings are here to create something good for themselves, for others, and through good deeds, with good qualities, to return to God, to return to Mokṣa, unity with the divine Self.