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Good evening. Today is our last program, the final evening satsaṅg. At noontime, we discussed a beautiful subject. Do you remember? Yes. Janma-bhūmi, karma-bhūmi, and dharma-bhūmi. This is all connected to our past karmas, our destiny. It is not something you can plan—that your karma-bhūmi will be San Francisco, India, or Europe, for instance, in Strelka. The karma-bhūmi is already decided by destiny. Thus, janma-bhūmi, karma-bhūmi, and dharma-bhūmi are already fixed for you: where you will be born, where you will work, and the field of your spiritual development. This is a glimpse from our earlier discussion, but I was asked to elaborate further. Between these concepts, we must go through our karma, what we call destiny. Whether you believe in it or not, you have to go through it. There is a very old story from ancient Greece. A king had a son. A seer, one who could see the future and knew astrology, said, "The boy, the prince, will be very good, very great." He would be capable, healthy, everything. But he told the king, "There is one problem. His destiny states that he will marry his mother." The king believed this and wanted to prevent it, for the good of the queen, the child, and himself. So he called his shepherds and ordered, "Kill this boy and throw him in the ocean for the fish." His servants were very sorrowful. Such a beautiful newborn child—how cruel the father was! But an order is an order. They took him on the long journey to the ocean. They came to hills, mountains, and many thorny bushes where sheep and goats were grazing with shepherds. They decided, "Okay, we can leave the child here under a bush. If it is his good luck, someone will take him." They left the child there. In the afternoon, a shepherd heard a child crying. There were many snakes, but nothing happened to the child. As it is said: Jisko rakhe saiyān, mārasake na koī, bālan baṅkā karsake jo jagbehrī hoī. Whom God protects, no one can kill. It does not matter if the whole world is against you; if God wishes to protect, no one can touch you. That is destiny. The shepherds took the child home. The man said to his wife, "Look, I have brought a child for you. You wanted a child, so here he is." She was overjoyed. They cleaned him and fed him. Meanwhile, she already had milk in her breast—that is a mother's love. The child received mother's milk. In all traditions, when adopting a very young child, if the adoptive mother truly has motherly love, milk comes into her breast. This is the miracle of a mother's body. They said, "Yes, she has a mother's love for this child and can adopt him." The child grew and became about twenty-five years old. Once, he was with his sheep and goats in Greece. There was a lady there with a clear voice named Sophie. Many go on pilgrimage to Greece because of the holy lady Sophia. He went to her because someone had told him he would marry his mother. From a distance, when Sophie saw him, she said, "Do not come to me. You have no good destiny and karma. You will marry your mother, and that is not acceptable, but you will do it." He came near and pleaded, "Please, can you do something so it will not happen?" She replied, "Destiny is written; it cannot be changed." The young man was completely dispirited, disappointed, and sad. He went away into the forest. He began turning in a circle with folded hands, praying, "Lord, please show me the right path." He turned many times with closed eyes, then stopped. He began walking in the direction he was facing. Every half kilometer or so, he would repeat this turning. He arrived at a kingdom, became a soldier there, and proved to be very capable, strong, and gentle. There was a war, and the king was killed. This young soldier worked very hard, organizing and helping. The queen saw him—she knew nothing of his past, as only her late husband had known the child was supposedly killed—and she fell in love with the young soldier and married him. Eventually, he came to know the truth. I believe he then committed suicide. If you believe this story, then you must believe in the destiny of your karma. It does not matter; you cannot avoid it. Or, if you are to avoid it, you must follow the grace, the kṛpā, of a wise person. Deen bandhu deena naath, meri dori ha tere haath. O merciful Lord, the string of my life is in your hands. I am only like a puppet. Please move me with your string toward you, O Lord, not in the wrong direction. So, destiny exists whether we believe it or not. Religion cannot change your destiny. Religion is a path to research your feelings and follow certain rules. Therefore, it is like this: humans have spiritual, moral, and ethical principles, along with social education. If you are socially educated, you will be one of the best persons. In a house, if several family members die one after another and one surviving married person thinks, "Okay, I will marry now," that person may not be able to, because they possess certain education, knowledge, feelings, and are a human being. Otherwise, one falls into animal culture. So, it is a choice between human culture and animal culture. That is destiny. It is said: Karm kī rekhā nyārī, nyārī, Uddhav. O Uddhava, the line of karma is unique, unique. The line which is already made, the plan already designed—there is a line on that plan, and you have to walk on that plane, on that line. The lines of destiny, the lines of karma on the map of destiny for everyone, go in different directions. You understand? You are only together for some days, some years, and then you will all separate. Consider a bird feeder: many birds come, sit, and eat the seeds, but then all will fly away. You do not know in which direction they will fly. This jīva, our soul, jīvātmā, is that bird, and it has its own destiny, its own flight path. We say this is written in our body. Our body is the map of our destiny. It begins from the top of the head, from the Bindu Chakra. You see a kind of coil there, and then the Sahasrāra Chakra. But the Sahasrāra Chakra is not the map of your destiny; this one is. The map of your destiny is written clearly on your forehead. When you look like this, how many lines are there? As you grow older, you will see more lines. Everyone has different lines. That is your karma, your destiny. All your destiny is written. When we make a mistake, we say, "Oh God, what happened? I forgot my dog at home, sleeping in the kitchen. We locked the door and left!" You remember? Or you might say, "Oh God," and touch your knee, saying it is your kismet, your luck. But when things are good, you do not say, "Oh God." You only do so at a negative point—a forgotten item, a lapse of memory. You say, "One moment, let me think," and you touch your forehead. All of that is written here. Secondly, there is face reading. On the face, you can see very clearly what a person is thinking and what they are questioning, especially at a border with a passport controller. They ask you a question, and if your answer is uncertain, your face expresses everything: nervousness, sweating, the face or neck becomes red, or you look around shiftily. This is all part of your destiny. It is also written on your fingers, on the back and the front. Your real sign is on your fingers and on your left big toe. It is said that among millions of people, no two of these signs are comparable. This is called a thumbprint. People sometimes say, "Oh, this person did not study; it is an unlearned thumbprint." But the thumbprint is very clever and accurate. You can see its impression on a window. Then there is the movement of your cheeks. There is a sign like a half-moon. When you smile, it goes upward; when you are sad, it goes downward. All this body language comes from your uncertainty, your destiny, your karma, your actions. Then, very clearly, on the palms: everyone has different lines. I do not have many, so no complications. These lines have meaning. You see the heart line? If you have one, you will marry only once. If there are two—on a man's right hand and a lady's left hand—it indicates a second marriage. More lines can indicate other relationships, but lines for children are separate and change until a certain age. These are indications to analyze a person. If you see correctly, do not ignore it or call it stupid. It is very correct. This is the map of your destiny. Hold the hand; look at the wrist also. There are many, many things. There is a point for the feminine side, called Lakṣmī. On the Lakṣmī line, there should be a mother point. Do you see here, on my hand, a dark point? Do not worry; we have enough money. Relax. This belongs to all of you, my bhaktas. We will never starve. Likewise, we go everywhere, including to food stalls. Then, look at the foothold of the palm. There are lines—two, three, four, five. You must know these lines exactly and what they tell. The best line goes straight from here to this point. If on this line you again have the mother point here, then wherever this person walks into any house, prosperity will come. That is very good. That is why money comes. If it is on the wrong side, it brings distraction and disturbances to the whole family. This is the destiny, the map of our destiny, which manifests through our eyesight, our behavior, and so on. A person who has no education and no feeling for others... Do not simply say that what I say is right. When you say, "I am right," you might think, "Yes, others are stupid." You may be right, but when you claim you are right, you should do so with wisdom, humbleness, kindness, respect, understanding, and love. Otherwise, you say, "I am the best, and these others are stupid and destructive." That means you consider yourself first. First, you think alcohol is wrong, and then you tell others why drinking is not good. How do you know it is not good? Because in your thoughts, it is not good, and you hold that position. There are many, many things in life like this. Number two: When the jīva, the jīvātmā, the soul, leaves the body, this plane, this map, is no longer valid for the future. It stays here. You will get a new map. If a map is not clear, you become lost. Modern technology is very clever. Wise are those people who, thanks to God, follow spiritual, intellectual, philosophical, wise thoughts and teachings. That is called a guideline. Gurudev gives you a guideline. What is it called now? A navigator. Yes, GPS. 'G' means Gurudeva. 'P' means path. 'S' means satya, truth. So, Gurudeva's path is the truth. If you follow the guru-vācana, the vākya, then the navigator will lead you. If the navigator tells you to turn right and you turn left, you are lost. You are in a critical position. For example, the Guru's instructions show you to turn right to reach the airport quickly on the highway because you might miss your flight. If you turn left instead, the next access is after forty kilometers. You miss your airplane and must book another. So you miss an opportunity, and you have lost your path. When you do not follow the Guru Vakya, you lose the path. Now you do not know in which jungle you will arrive—in which jungle, which desert. That becomes your destiny. Rekh pe Mekh, kya kya te hain? Rekhā means line. This is the map line. Your destiny is to go on this line. But if this path is not good, where will it end? It may end at the nest of tigers. You arrive, and they are hungry. Oh God! But you do not know. Rekh, mekh. What is a mekh? A mekh is a needle. Gurudev can use that needle to change your entire plan and direct you to Brahmaloka. Therefore, follow the Guru Vakya. Obey your master. There was one master from Hawaii, from Kauai, Subrahmaṇyam Swāmī. He was my good friend and came twice to Viyādhāna, giving a lecture at the ashram. He speaks very little; he mostly asks questions. But he said the final path to success is: "Obey, obey, obey your master." Now, the destiny: the soul comes into endless space. There is no direction—up or down, north, south, east, or west. You do not know where. The soul is like a dīpak, a flame. When it leaves the body, it goes into the dark, into space. But if you have trikāḍ dṛṣṭi, you can see the soul going, this lamp, this flame, going straight toward the light, toward the sun, until it merges into the sun. That is how the soul travels. The soul is gone, and you are worshiping here. There is nothing. The snake is gone, and you are beating the trap, the line of the snake. Śaṅkarācārya said: the snake is gone, and you are beating the trap. There is no snake. So the soul is gone, and we are worshiping here—whom? There is no reality there. Know the reality. Know the Guru Vakya. When you know, you will see what Guru Kṛpā is. Otherwise, those who do not believe in that intellect are like mosquitoes in darkness. A mosquito attacks you when it is dark. When there is light, they sit peacefully, cleaning themselves. They give suggestions, hypnotizing you: "Amen, why don't you turn off the light and sleep, amen?" You say, "Yes, that's right." Then you sleep, and it comes near: "Are you sleeping so peacefully that I can suck your blood?" Such people are like mosquitoes in darkness, not in the light. The light is knowledge, following Guru Bhakti and the path of the divine master's spiritual lineages. The line on the paper, on the map, is different, and the paper is different. A completely white paper, with nothing written, means your future destiny is blank. But later, you will see what is printed on your piece of paper; that is your destiny. We can change our destiny through our sādhanā, our mantra, everything we do. Things happen, good and bad, but we should work, learn, and progress. Then, according to that, you leave this mṛtyu loka, the mortal world of destiny, and enter a new world. Again, you are coming there. That is your new destiny, the map of your new destiny. According to that, you will get your karmabhūmi, your janmabhūmi. According to your janma, where are you? Are you a chicken? Then be sure your throat will be cut. Or are you a rabbit? It may be the same. Or another animal, or a fish. So where is your Janmabhūmi? One might say, "My Janmabhūmi? I have no land. I have only the Atlantic Ocean." Okay, it is not bhūmi, but water. So you could say, "My birthplace is the Atlantic Ocean." Very big. Are you comfortable? People might say, "Oh yes, very." But you know what happens? Somebody is waiting until you get a little bigger. A fish's life is not easy. A bird's life is not easy. An animal's life is not easy. And now, human life is also not easy. Destiny. The lines of karma are different, O Uddhava. I wish you all the best. In the next lectures, we will discuss how the jīva comes again to this earth, how it happens, and how it continuously goes. I will tell a story. So, Rekh Parmek Gurudev: your destiny can change only by the guru. Mokṣa mūlaṁ guru kṛpā: the root of liberation is the guru's grace. The changing of destiny and the attainment of mokṣa—these two things lie in the guru's grace. Whether you like your guru or not, it does not matter. But if you are angry with your guru, your destiny becomes complicated. Yes, that is it. So, use it or lose it. All the best. Bless you. Tomorrow before noon, we will have the final program talk in our ashram here in the Oakland Bay Area, San Francisco, Oakland. Good. Hari Om, all the best. Śrīdīp Nayan Bhagavān, Dev Purīśra Mahādeva, Madhav Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān, Satya Sanātana.