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Oṃ brahmānandam parama sukhadam kevalaṃ jñāna-mūrtim dvandvātītaṃ gagana-sadṛśyaṃ tasmād yadi lakṣyam ekaṃ nityaṃ vimalam achalaṃ sarvādhi-sākṣi-bhūtaṃ bhavātītaṃ triguṇa-rahitam. Good evening, dear sisters and brothers. I am happy to see you again here in our āśram. It is the Vedic tradition, coming from ages—what we call yugas, millions of years—that whatever you begin in your life, or at night time, any new activity, we chant certain mantras. Mantras are the essence, the compact essence of prayers. We pray in two forms. First, our adoration, respect, love, and devotion to the Supreme, which is omniscient and omnipresent in each and every atom and in the universe. It is nirguṇa, has no form, but it is there. Like you have your mind, but you cannot see it. We cannot see our mind, yet it governs us. Sometimes we are angry. Who is that? Where is he sitting? How is he? We cannot see it. We feel, we know, but we cannot make any picture of happiness. Similarly, when we come to the cosmic consciousness, the higher consciousness, then we do not see the dust of this planet. We are above that. We are with that Supreme, and that is the one who is governing the entire universe. We are a tiny, tiny part of that universe. We are human, not everything. Though we call ourselves the children of God—yes, we definitely are—but not only humans; all creatures are His creation, His manifestation. Therefore, God is omniscient, omnipresent, but still He has no name, He has no form. He has no name, but we humans give millions of names to God. He has no form, but we humans give form to that which we like. The form we describe about Kṛṣṇa—He was never dressed like that. Never. He was a very simple person. The dress of Lakṣmī or Sītā, how many yugas, ages before, millions… at that time, there was not such material there. There was no, what you call, the fabrics. Similarly with Jesus, it was not like that. But we form it because in the Bhagavad Gītā, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa speaks: there are 18 different kinds of yoga, not only bhakti, karma, rāja, and jñāna yoga, but 18 chapters. Each chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā is one branch of yoga. If you come beyond this, then there are more different kinds of yoga. And when you go farther, then there are no divisions. There is only one, that is called yoga. So there is no God, what we call the Rāma or Kṛṣṇa or Jesus or the Buddhas. There is no name. Only one: God Rāma, God Kṛṣṇa. The title we give, there is only one called God. Religion, we give the names: Hindu religion, Islam religion, Christian religions. We put Hindu, Islam, Christian, but religion is religion. There is oneness. So, God is called Benāmī, who has no name. Hence, He is a guṇa. It means He has no eyes, but He sees everything. He has no ears, but He hears everything. So prayers, meditation, the mantras—when we chant, we make a direct connection to that supreme almighty, the governor of the entire universe. We pray for the presence, guidance, and blessing of that Supreme. Secondly, we pray that the presence of that Divine Consciousness should dwell in our heart in the form of wisdom. It is He who should speak within me through my vocal cords, through my tongue and lips, in the form of the Divine Mother that is called Sarasvatī. Every one of us has Sarasvatī, and the seat of Sarasvatī is in the Viśuddhi Cakra. If your Viśuddhi Cakra is open, you master that, you become one of the best speakers. When the Viśuddhi Cakra is still not active properly, then you will speak, and you will stop, and you will be nervous, and so on. The seat of the sound is in Maṇipūra, in the navel. There is the sound; whenever you speak any word, you will feel first pressure on the navel. That is also the seat of Sarasvatī. She has many places in our body, and that is the seat of the Self, which means God. Let’s come to our self, the humans. Our life begins from the navel. It begins, then first a small intense thing, and then the spine, and then the head and limbs, and so on. But the origin, our life begins with a dot, a dot, a tiny dot called zero. The entire universe is a zero. The light of the sun, energy, is going around as a zero. Nothing is penetrating straight, and so our self is zero, water is zero. All elements are zeros. So there our life begins, and that is the Viṣṇu, or what we call God Consciousness. Furthermore, we may call it the Ātmā. When we come to the Ātmā, it is Śiva. The Jīvā is the Viṣṇu. We give the name. Again, there is no name of them. Then, that seed from the Maṇipūra Cakra, from our navel, begins the awakening. There are two forces coming together to the navel, that’s called prāṇa and apāna. Prāṇa is the cosmic energy, and apāna is this mortal world’s energy. Both come together. Awakening takes place. So first we pray to that almighty for success, for blessings, and we pray that that energy should dwell in my heart, in my consciousness, in my words, and in my space. Then your language becomes the language of sweetness, the language of wisdom. You need not search anything in the books or anywhere. It will come by itself. And that was what I chanted in the beginning: Brahmānanda. Brahma is that God of whom I just spoke, who has no form. We do not know where He lives. He is omnipresent. So Brahmananda, that highest consciousness, that supreme bliss, what we call the happiness, the real happiness, is that divine consciousness. Brahmānandam parama sukhadam. And that brings the happiness, parama sukha. Sukha means pleasure, though in word, in English, there is no translation of sukha. There are many words which we cannot translate. So, sukha and duḥkha, we translate only as happiness and troubles, that’s all. Happiness is sukha, and trouble is unhappiness. But in Hindi or in Sanskrit language, it has completely different meanings. So when I translate sukha as happiness, my inner self does not agree. I feel guilty that I do not translate sukha as happiness. That’s not happiness. But when there is nothing, then it is better than nothing to use it. So parama sukhadam. Parama is the highest. Sukha, here I will say happiness. Brahmanand, ānanda is also sukha. So ānanda is a different meaning, sukha is a different meaning. Now both are the same. What can I do? I did not find in any dictionary which word I could use. So we can say bliss as ānanda and sukha, happiness or pleasure. In Āyurveda, it speaks about sukha differently. The first instruction or mantra of Āyurveda is this one only. O humans, in your life, the first happiness—again, I have to say happiness, unfortunately happiness is different, but I have to use it—O human, the first happiness which you can have is to enjoy good health. Nothing can be compared with good health. The happiest person is the one who is really healthy. And we are now, okay, we try to practice, and we try to gain health. We cannot buy health. No one can give us health. Only we have to gain it by practicing, taking care of nourishment, etc. So, brahmānandam, ānanda, the highest bliss, brahmānand, parama sukhadam, parama means again highest, sukha means happiness, the happiest time. Brahmānandam parama sukhadam kevalaṃ jñānamūrtim, and that is only the wisdom, jñāna and ajñāna, knowledge and ignorance. So God is only the knowledge, only the wisdom; there is no ignorance. Therefore, the Upaniṣad said, "Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya." Lead us from the darkness to the light. Darkness of the ignorance to the light of the wisdom. When that light of wisdom awakens in us, we will see the world differently. We will see ourselves differently. We will see all creatures and humans as different. We will see in everyone the light of God. We do not see the body. We do not see what a person is doing, did, or will do. We see this is the light of God, that’s all. When a mother gives birth to a child, she sees only one thing, that it is her child. Does not matter how it is, but she is happy. The father is happy. She is only one, my child. Similarly, those who have this knowledge, she is only one, that we are all light of God. Parama śukadam kevalaṃ jñānamūrtim. It is only the wisdom, only the knowledge. Where there is knowledge, you will never speak about ignorance. You will never speak about something which is nothing. Brahmānandam parama śukadam kevalaṃ jñānamūrtim. That one is beyond all kinds of conflict, all kinds of ego, all kinds of greed, all kinds of dualities. There are no dualities. Dvandva. What is the word, Mohan, for dvaṅda? No, yeah, but what in English? Opposite. Too open. Dvandva. So dvandva is a problem in our life. My culture, my country, my language, my religion, my property, my people. This is Dvanda, and in this Andha Dvanda, Dvanda is Andha Dvanda. Dvanda, Andha Dvanda means we are blind, running against everything. Now you see what wars and things are happening in different parts of the world. This is called Dvanda. Where Dvanda is suffering. Dvandha is a war. Dvandha is a fighting. There is no mercy. There is no compassion. Dvandha, titam. It is beyond this dvandha, above this dualism, about which we are often writing articles, you know. It is without dualities, regardless of age and gender, color and caste, you know. Many are writing, but in reality, they do not accept. They do not accept. Are you speaking really from your heart when you are writing this? Suddenly, when someone comes and sits, he said, looking this way. The day before yesterday, I went to some place. There were a few people sitting in that waiting hall in Oakland. I came in and I said, "Good morning." To whom did he say good morning? It was a very beautiful picture for me to see. If we go in India, we say namaste. If you come to Vienna, if you said, "Guru, what is the answer?" we will give human to human, but now we are missing that all, slowly, slowly… We are talking about multi-religion, inter-religion dialogue, non-duality, accepting, and suddenly I will go and sit there. Who is sitting here? That’s it. When a lot of crows are there and one swan comes and sits there, the owl will crow and see what he is doing there. A lot of swans are there, and one crow will sit. Immediately, we, our physical eyes, see differently. But in that one, dvandātītam, how? How is he or she? Gagana sā draṣṭṛyam. Gagan means the sky. Sa means like. Drasyam means the vision. The clear sky, when there are no clouds, is a beautiful blue sky everywhere. So when you meditate and learn meditation, that time in your consciousness will awake equalness, like a beautiful blue sky. And one philosopher, Goethe from Germany, he said, to see the blue sky, you need not to travel anywhere. So to see that equalness in everyone, you need not to go somewhere and say, "Should I change my religion, my belief, or this?" and you need not. Look within thyself. That is a meditation, to come to the oneness, to come above this duality. So brahmānandam paramasukhadam kevalaṃ jñānamūrtim vandatitam gaganusadrasyam tasmasyadhilakṣyam. And that is the aim of everyone. That is the aim of meditation. That is the aim of the prayers, that is the aim of all spiritual ceremonies and rituals and beliefs, and this all, that is the aim of all, that is our destination. So, where are we? Human, this life is not a destination. This life is a journey, a journey to the destination, or you miss the way. You are in a hurry to reach your airport, and you are driving on the highway, and beside you, one is talking all the time, and you miss the exit. So the next exit is 10 kilometers. You exit from the next 10 kilometers, but again, the exit back to the highway is another 10 kilometers. And then from there, you have to come to the right way until your flight is gone. This is this, so the human life is that life. That is only one milestone, only one step, then you are in the Brahmaloka. But someone is sitting with it, chatting so much, and that is called prapañca of life, this dvandha of life. These, these… so many things, and we forget our aim. O my dear, when you will realize that supreme, the divine consciousness, the highest self, the highest bliss, the highest happiness or joy, then there are three things. Ekam, that’s only one; there is no duality, neither you nor me, we are not here. As a body, we are two. As a soul, we are two. But as an ātmā, the reality, we are one, and neither you nor me. And that realization is, one tells, "When I was here, he was not here." And now he is here, but I am not here. Prem galī ati sākarī, jisme do na samāye. Jab maiṁ yā thā to vah nahīṁ, ab vah hai to maiṁ nahīṁ. Why? When I was here, he was not here. And now he is here, and I am not here. Why? Because the street of love is so narrow, two cannot walk together. Two have to become one. And that is called the supreme, the highest realization. There is only one God, and thyself became one. So ekam, only one. Ekam nityam, and that is everlasting. Our, this ego, our body is everyday changing, everyday changing. There was a time, and once I gave a lecture in 1974 somewhere, that was in Czechoslovakia. I still remember, I spoke there in the school for the nurses. And I said, yoga will keep us young. And you will see, I will not become old, but I will practice samasya yoga. And today, when I look in the mirror, I said, "How I was lying there." Yes, true. I laugh at myself when I see myself in the mirror. I remember that day, what I spoke. My every lecture is what I spoke from, let’s say, from 1965 I began. Today, I know where I speak, what I spoke. Anyhow, so though we do not like this, that our body is changing, but it is changing. The body has dharma, its principle is to be born, grow up, and die, whether you accept it or not. And when death comes, you have no more power, and you never know who will be the first from all of us here. Recently, there was a very terrible accident. One of my best friends and the head of my akhāḍā, he was sitting with six people in the car, a good car. It was not some mess box, a good car, or a security car, but it happened, an accident, and he died. The opposite truck was coming, and one of the tires of the truck blasted. So he turned, and another truck was coming, hitting 60 to 70 kilometers per hour, and in between. So the head of that master or the ācārya is squeezed together. So within no time, his head was hanging like a piece of flesh under his neck. The others had little injury, so that came to take him only, that death. There are sometimes mysterious things or indescribable things. In 1968, there was one story someone told that they were waiting at the railway crossing where there’s a barrier. And at that time, there were more bikes than cars. And someone had a moped, a motorbike, in Jaipur. So the train was coming, and all were waiting. So one hawk, big, caught somewhere a snake, a big cobra, and was flying over to take it away. And just there, near the railway crossing, somehow he lost the cobra and came down. One man was in the crowd, sitting on his moped. The cobra bit him, and he said, "Snake, snake," and then again, "Cobra, run!" Again, the hawk came down, caught him, and took him away. The man died within a few minutes on the spot. There were about at least 50 or 60 people. Why just that only? So we never know when our term will come. Daughter, I know my young one will come. Except for the changes of nature, though we do not want them, we must. So, ekam nityam: we are mortal beings, and that the cosmic divine consciousness is everlasting and only one. That’s why it is called the only one truth. Brahma satya, jagat mithyā. All is the reality. The supreme truth is that God consciousness. The rest is all bubbles, like this: waves itching here, here. Ekam nityam vimala, spotless. That’s called crystal clear consciousness. Then you will not make fighting with anyone. Or anyone’s rejecting or speaking bad or good. All is in your address is pure light. Ekam nityam vimalam, without any spot. Achalam. Achal means not moving at all. Unmovable, so that God consciousness is an entire endless universe which can shake that consciousness, becomes one divine. That is the aim of meditation, my dear, and that is the goal of practicing yoga, and that’s our destination. Ekam nityam vimalāchalam sarvadhi sākṣī bhūtam. And though He has no form, He is the knower of everyone. Sarvadhi sākṣī bhūtam. Sākṣī means the witness. Bhuta means all living beings, all creatures. So in God’s consciousness, in His view, in dṛṣṭi, everything knows what is happening. Now, what you are thinking here, nobody knows what you are thinking. But there are two persons in this room who know everything you are thinking. You cannot hide, and these two are: one is yourself, and second is that God. To know what you are thinking, so you cannot hide. So you and he means the entire universe and all beings, so you cannot hide. That we have to realize. So sarvādi-sākṣī-bhūtaṃ bhāva-atītam. And that one is above all the emotional situations: like, dislike, my, thy, no. There is nothing. There is no liking and there is no disliking. Like and dislike are there where the ego, selfishness, and desires are, but that is beyond that. Sarvaddhi-sākṣibhūtaṃ bhavatitam tri-guna-rahitam, above these three qualities, the three guṇas: sattva, rajas, and tamas guṇa. Who is above these three guṇas? That one then has a right to have a title called sattva guru. That is a Gurudev, and I bow down to that guru. That’s it. We may call ourselves a guru, great guru, little guru, big guru, small guru, kangaroo, everything. But to understand guru-tattva, you have to go through proper meditation and proper instructions, and there is a way to that Self. And there are many obstacles, of course. Asurī-śaktis and devī-śakti, the divine energy and the devil’s energy, both are fighting. When you come a little more, when you are making progress, suddenly some negative things will come between and kick you away. Like you play football with great effort, your whole team tries to come, and one kicks the football into the goal. Suddenly, the other one kicks it, so it goes to the other side. That is the whole thing. So, is that therefore why this path is not easy to God? It does not matter which religion you follow. So Mahāprabhujī said in one bhajan, "O my mind, slowly, slowly, you have to climb to the top peak of that mountain of cosmic consciousness." Tomorrow I will translate this bhajan. So, this is a theory, and out of the theory, we come to the meditation. Tomorrow we will have meditation instructions. In meditation, one should not give instructions. You speak theory, and then in meditation you do not speak the theory. You just give a few instructions and let the aspirant or practitioner have his own way further. So, the mantra which I chanted: "Brahmānandam Paramasukhadam Kevalaṃ Gyanamurtyam Dvandatitam Gaganasadrisham Tattvamasyadi Lakshyam Ekam Nityam Vimalachalam Sarvadhi Sakshibhutam." To that master, my adoration again and again. Peace, peace. There are possibilities in human life to come to that point. You have it now. Use it or lose it. You never know where the end is. Therefore, in every culture, I think, we used to say, "What you have to do tomorrow, do it today." And what you have to do today, do it just now. Who knows what will happen? Who knows if you will be able to inhale again when you have exhaled? And when you exhale, you do not know if you will be inhaling. So, Guru Nānak said in one bhajan, "Oh my dear, thy life is gone without the name of God." But now, whatever is remaining, hurry up and remember, practice spirituality. All that we think is "why this" and "I do not believe this." It is only when you are young. You know, horses are wild now. But very soon, these horses will be tired, and we will say, "Oh God, what should I do more?" So, thank you, and wish you all the best. And I am not a guest here; I am neither a guest nor a host. I am just you. So, we are here in our āśram, and nice to see you always. I come, like I am coming back home to my family. And we have here Swāmī Vivek Purījī. He is very great, so he will speak better than me tomorrow, and he is a great yoga teacher. I have known him since he was 17 years old, so can you imagine? How old is he now? So you do not look to him because you will not look to me. So how was I at that time? He is the president of yoga and the life of the whole Croatia. He is coming from the country Croatia, as well as he is the president of the Hindu community. Of Croatia, he managed to establish and get acknowledgement of Hinduism in Croatia. In many countries, the religions are dominating, and they do not want other religions to be acknowledged there as religions. And at various times, he went to Kumbh Melā. He got from Mayakada the title of Mahāmaṇḍaleś, like Archbishop or Cardinal, and I wanted to introduce you because I am getting old. So, it is the 23rd time I am here in years, 23 years crossing, coming to always New Zealand, and always I am a guest, so I was surprised. Yeah, no, no, do not always tell me that I am a guest. You must write a protocol, okay? Neither visitor nor guest, we are brothers and sisters, and I try my best to bring the good message into the world. I wish you a very good evening, and now it is finished. So tomorrow, Vivek Purī will have more time, also teaching yoga in their life: how to teach, how to practice. Many are just doing, I have heard that you are doing like aerobic exercises, you know, very quickly: one, two. This is good for your back, this is good for your… So smoothly, slowly, harmony, body, mind, and soul in oneness. Let your horse run in such a way that the horse, the rider, and the observer all enjoy. How nice it is. So finally, after this, the second mantra comes. Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ, sarve santu nirāmayāḥ, sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu, mā kaścid duḥkha bhāg bhavet. Oṃ śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ. All be happy, all be healthy, oh Lord, and I should also be healthy and happy. Peace, peace… adios.