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Deep Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī, Devādhi Dev, Deveśvara Mahādeva kī, Alakapurīcā Mahādeva kī, Mādhav Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān kī, Satya Sanātana Dharma kī, Ādi Guru Bhagavān Śaṅkarācārya kī, Oṁ. Brahmanandam paramasukhadam kevalam jñānamūrtim, dvandvātītaṁ gagana-sadṛśaṁ tatvamasyādi-lakṣyam, ekaṁ nityaṁ vimalam-acalaṁ sarvadhi-sākṣi-bhūtaṁ, bhāvātītaṁ triguṇa-rahitaṁ sadguruṁ taṁ namāmi. Mahāmantra-mūlaṁ guru-vākyaṁ, mokṣa-mūlaṁ guru-kṛpā. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ... All dear ones, spiritual seekers, brothers and sisters around the world, on the holy occasion of Śrī Guru Pūrṇimā, I send you the blessings of Oṁ Śrī Alakapurī Jīsīd Pīṭa Paramparā. I wish you good health, a long and happy life, spiritual development, and finally, the achievement of the purpose of this human life: self-realization. Life is a journey, not a destination. We have many miles to walk. The final milestone will be when our individual self merges into the universal Self, or ātma-jñāna. Self-realization can be understood in two parts. As long as we live in this body, we may have knowledge about self-realization, but it remains within the realm of our intellect, imagination, and feelings. One never knows what will happen in life. It is certain that with self-realization, one becomes free from karmas. Yet, the body with its senses experiences karmic events every second, or one may choose not to utilize the power of self-realization. It is said that when Swami Vivekānanda, after his world tour and India tour, went to see his Gurujī Paramahaṁsa Rāmakṛṣṇa at the Rāmakṛṣṇa Maṭha in Kolkata, it was winter. It was a little cool, and Paramahaṁsa Rāmakṛṣṇa was resting in the garden in the sun. Paramahaṁsa Rāmakṛṣṇa had cancer in his throat, and pus was coming from the wound. It was not pleasant to see. Vivekānanda was a very young, energetic, vibrant man, proud of himself. He had great devotion and saw his Gurujī as God. It is claimed that Vivekānandajī attained self-realization, but temporarily—a glimpse called Sahaja Samādhi or Bhāva Samādhi. After that, the fever of self-realization remained in his memory and knowledge. He was undoubtedly a great person with great knowledge. Yet, when it came to living life, we may call it imagination. There are two kinds of imagination: we imagine, or we have experience—lakṣyāratī and vācyāratī. When you achieve samādhi, you become both lakṣyāratī and vācyāratī, but the greater balance is towards vācyāratī. Vivekānanda had great devotion towards Paramahaṁsa Rāmakṛṣṇa. He went for darśana of Gurujī in the āśrama, accompanied by many devotees. As Vivekānanda proceeded to where Gurudeva was resting, about ten meters away, he saw Rāmakṛṣṇa lying in the garden, seemingly suffering with the open wound of cancer. We are human. We have emotions and the freedom to think. So Vivekānanda thought, "I believed my Gurudeva was God—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva—and here he lies helpless. What should I think of my Gurujī?" On one hand, he called him God; on the other, he saw him in this condition. He was only thinking; there is no doubt he had great devotion and love for Paramahaṁsa Rāmakṛṣṇa. He came forward to offer praṇāma. Before he could do so, Rāmakṛṣṇa smiled and said, "Vivek, your doubts are a symbol of ignorance, my son. I know what you are thinking. If I wished, I could simply place my hand over this wound and it would disappear. But, Vivekānanda, for that I would have to be born again and live that much life. Therefore, let it be. Let this karma be exhausted; then it will be no more." Vivekānanda felt very sorry and ashamed. Again and again, he then said, "Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu, Gururdevo Maheśvara, Guru Sākṣāt Parabrahma Tasmai Śrī Guruve Namaḥ." Thus, Guru Tattva and our sādhanā are a hard path. Mahāprabhujī said very clearly in a bhajan: Śāstra kośa gagana ke upara, vyāpāra hera gurai, Agar sarapate pāv tumhārā, paḍegā uṇḍī khāī, Manvā dhīre dhīre chāl, yāgan gaṛ chaḍhnā re bhāī. Śāstra Kośa is thousands of kilometers or miles high; we have to climb up. Śāstra Kośa gagana ke upara—the sky is endless. Vahan par hai Raghu Rāī. Raghu Rāī means Bhagavān Śrī Rāma of the Raghu dynasty. Like we have our Alakapurījī Siddha Pīṭha Paramparā, we belong to this kula. As long as everyone remains connected to their kula—their dynasty—you are on the right path. You are under the protection of your dynasty, your ancestors. They feel comfortable, you feel comfortable, and your descendants will feel comfortable knowing you are on the right path and are not lost. In this modern world, the roots of humans are rotten, cut off. You decide to do what you like. You decide to change your thoughts, change your spiritual path, change your beliefs, change your religions, change your masters. Consequently, you are nowhere. You are like a chutney or ketchup—you do not know what is mixed into it. We are fortunate to have found our divine paramparā, the Alakapurījī Siddhapīṭha paramparā. Through it, we will collect ourselves back onto the right track, the right path. Sometimes it is not easy. Agar sarapate pāv tumhārā—while climbing up, Manvā, dhīre dhīre chāl—O my mind, walk slowly, carefully. Agar sarapate pāv tumhārā—if you slip, paḍegā uṇḍī khāī—you will fall deep into a hole and will find it very hard to climb out again. What does that mean? We miss our chance, and what follows? Other lives, other creatures, other existences. Vivekānanda understood. From that time onward, a picture of Gurudeva was with him always. There is a story—I do not know if it is true, as I was not there—that when Vivekānanda was giving a lecture in America, an artist was drawing his portrait. In that portrait, the artist drew Paramahaṁsa Rāmakṛṣṇa behind him, even though Rāmakṛṣṇa was not physically present. So Gurujī said, "Pal pala leta sambhala"—every second, Mahāprabhujī looks after me. Gurudeva is not far. Mahāprabhujī said, "If you are five meters away from me, it means I am also five meters away from you. Distance is not from one side; distance is from both sides." Therefore, trace out and find your original roots. After that, think about spiritual development. Then think about mokṣa, liberation. Then comes guru-kṛpā. This is part of the self-realization we possess as knowledge: lakṣyāratī and vācyāratī. Lakṣyāratī are those who have set their aim and walk towards it. Vācyāratī are those who read a lot—what we call bookworms, library worms—and speak. That is also very good and necessary. Darśanajī said, "The Gurudeva is a moving temple." Gurudeva is the one who can answer you anything. Whatever the question, at least he can say, "I do not know." He speaks. That is Sanātana Dharma. Therefore, Sanātana Dharma is eternal, and that eternal Dharma will last forever, as long as a mother gives birth to a child. Birth itself is Sanātana Dharma. Those who do not believe in Sanātana Dharma should not give birth to any children. Nor would cows, buffaloes, birds, or any animals give birth. Sanātana Dharma is a living religion. "Religion" means relation—a relation to our Sanātana heritage. Hamārā Sanātana hai ye. Mame vaso jīva loke jīva bhūta sanātana. That is Sanātana Dharma. As long as the school system exists, the guru paramparā will continue. As long as education exists—even now in this Kali Yuga, in modern life—we all pay more attention and inspire everyone to go study, go to school, college, university, learn computers, etc. You need a teacher. Teachers are of two kinds: you can say teacher or guru; the language is different. In Hindi or Sanskrit, it is guru; in other languages, it is teacher. Consider a beautiful photo of a professor and a beautiful picture of a surgeon performing an operation. If you need an operation, go to that photo and say, "Please, Doctor Sāhab, do the operation." The photo will just smile; it has no life. If it were alive, it would perform the operation. Ask the teacher or professor in the photo, "Can you answer this question?" He will still look at you nicely, but if he were living, he would answer. This is called guru paramparā, and this guru paramparā is called the living religion. When you close it, that is the end; after that, no one will come. Then only dogmas will remain, and anyone can give any commentary. If someone speaks incorrectly, the living master will say, "That was not like this; it is like that." Therefore, for final liberation, the final destination, the living master is essential. The living master has to correct, to make corrections. I am not keen to show my face, but my devotees who are watching want to see how I look now in Jordan. That is why there is guru-paramparā, and there is also dynasty-kula. So guru-kula and family-kula are called ṛṣi-kula. We are all the children of the ṛṣis. Sabhi ṛṣi muniyoṁ kī santāna haiṁ. Every ṛṣi was married. All saints were married. All goddesses were married. But in Kali Yuga, attachment began. When attachment began, you paid attention only to your own family and children, not towards others. Therefore, it is said: no marriage, so that you belong to no one but belong to everyone. We are Ṛṣi Santāna. We are all Ṛṣi Santāna, like we call Maharṣi Garga-ācārya, Vasiṣṭha (Bhagavān Rāma's guru), Vasiṣṭha Kula, Vyāsa Kula. There are many Paṇḍitjīs called Vyāsa. It does not matter if we are from Europe or India; we are divided now, but before we were one. There is only one human race, not many. Human is human, whether tall or short, white or black, from America, Europe, Asia, or Africa. That is why the United Nations established human rights: every human is... Santāna means children of the ṛṣis, and that is why we are all known as ṛṣi santāna. If you know your ṛṣi santāna, you will be free from the ancestors, from Pitṛloka. Liberation from Pitṛloka will come at that time. Do not think you will attain liberation and simply leave. Your ancestors will pull you back by your trousers and say, "Hey boy, where are you going? We are all here suffering, and you are leaving?" But when you attain self-realization, all your ancestors will be liberated if you truly achieve it. Therefore, vācyāratī—teaching and lecturing—is only for a certain time. Then you must go inward, antarmukhā. So through active and passive sādhanā, meditation, karma, etc., a human can achieve that final goal. Guru Pūrṇimā has many meanings. My experience is this: among the twenty-four incarnations, the first was Varāha Avatāra. Varāha Avatāra brought the earth out of the water; otherwise, the earth was submerged. The moment the sun's rays first touched the earth—a constellation of seconds, even less than a second—that is Guru Pūrṇimā. So it is the movement from darkness to light. Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya—lead us from darkness to light. "Gu" means darkness, and "ru" means light. Thus, the light of knowledge removes the darkness of ignorance. Therefore, sādhanā is very important, and we all must come to our sādhanā. Secondly, Bhagavān Vedavyāsa. In the Mahābhārata, in the family of the Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas, there is Vedavyāsa, Maharṣi Vedavyāsa. He decided to write all the spiritual teachings, the knowledge, all the Vedas, even Śrīmad Bhāgavata, and many other scriptures. All were written, or dictated, by Vedavyāsa. Kṛṣṇa was not on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra teaching the Bhagavad Gītā, but how Kṛṣṇa acted and instructed Arjuna was compiled. The Bhagavad Gītā is the essence of the Upaniṣads. The essence of the Upaniṣads is the song that was sung, which became the Gītā. The Upaniṣads' Gītā is made from the Gāthās. That is why it is said that Kṛṣṇa knows the Gītā, and a mother knows the Gītā. Those who know who Kṛṣṇa was, what Kṛṣṇa was, how Kṛṣṇa was, will know what the Gītā is. And only a mother knows who the father is. That reality, liberation, mokṣa, comes from that knowledge and that blessing. It is Guru Kṛpā. Therefore, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva—this trinity—have their duties. The work a clerk (Patvārī) has to do, the president will not do. If the president wants to do it and the clerk writes a false report, the president will not come. If the clerk writes that people will show black flags, the president's entire program will be cancelled. A low-level officer, a clerk, if asked to report on preparations for a presidential visit, might say, "Please do not come; the public is against you; they will show black flags." The president will cancel. So the president has his power and duties, but the little clerk also has his power and duties. Similarly, from the supreme cosmic power down to this earth, we must follow and respect everyone's role and excellence. Thus, it is established: Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu, Gururdevo Maheśvara. Above these three is the highest principle, the tattva. Among all tattvas, the Guru Tattva is the greatest. So Guru Tattva is guru sākṣāt para brahma. We do not say Kṛṣṇa is Parabrahma, we do not say Śiva is Parabrahma, we do not say Buddha is Parabrahma. But Gurudeva is Parabrahma. Sākṣāt parabrahma. Tasmai Śrī Gurudevaya Namaḥ. Rāma and Kṛṣṇa also had gurus. Tīna-loka-ke-inātha-sataguru-ke-ādheṇa. Understand: when there is a little doubt, a little anger, a little ego, a little pride, then a condition arises like the one Vivekānandajī faced, and he had to say to himself inwardly, "How could my heart become blind?" These two eyes are only for looking at the outside world and for work. But to see the experiences of all the saints... that is Guru Pūrṇimā. It is the highest and best spiritual festival, where we celebrate and worship our mother, our fathers, our brothers, our sisters, our teachers, our professors—everyone. And we perform Guru Pūjā. Guru Pūjā is tomorrow. How does one perform Guru Pūjā? There are different methods. In the morning, rise before sunrise, bathe, and wear fresh, clean clothes—new or freshly washed. Put aside what you wore yesterday. Go to your altar, or if you are with your Gurudeva, offer praṇāma, perform pūjā, āratī, prayers, apply tilaka, chant your mantra, offer garlands, flowers—whatever you have. Then make your saṅkalpa. Remember your saṅkalpa from the last Guru Pūrṇimā, and review from last Guru Pūrṇimā to this one: how many good things you did, how many not-good things, how many times you had doubts, how many times you were angry, how many times you felt devotion, how many times you asked for forgiveness. All this accounting is there. Bring your pūjā thālī and see what is in it: which saṅkalpa and which fruits you have reaped over the year. Surrender all, and take a new saṅkalpa to achieve your goal. This life is a journey, not a destination, so may our journey become comfortable, pleasurable, safe, and successful in leading us to our destination. Tomorrow, we will also have morning pūjā here, and many devotees are coming to our Jadon āśrama and to āśramas around the world. Every master's āśrama, regardless of tradition, holds a Guru Pūrṇimā program. Fortunate are those who can go to their āśramas for pūjā and satsaṅga, or who remember it wherever they are. Unfortunate are those who forget that today is Guru Pūrṇimā. I wish you all the best. I pray again to Alakapurījī, Devapurījī, Holy Gurujī, Mahāprabhujī to bless you all with spiritual development and achievement. From this holy seat of Alakapurījī, Siddhapīṭa Parabrahma, in the name of this holy seat, I bless you all on Guru Pūrṇimā. Deep Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān, Devādhi Dev, Deveśvara Mahādeva, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān, Alakapurījī Mahādeva, Satya Sanātana Dharma. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ.