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Om Sarve Santu Sukhinaḥ, Sarve Santu Niraṁayāḥ, Sarve Bhadrāṇi Paśyantu, Mā Kaścid Duḥkha Bhāg Bhavet, Om Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ. Good evening, all dear brothers and sisters coming from different parts of the world. After a long time, we are gathering here for this New Year’s Eve. It has its meaning, its story, and its history. It is a point where the past and present join. What is coming in the future is still like a child in the womb of the mother. How it will be born, how it will be—we do not know. But we have a one-year-old child, and we know how beautiful it was. There are many things to be understood, and they will come. There will be very good speakers now, and I will also speak something later. This night is called Silvester Night. At midnight, a child will be born—the "Midnight Child." Someone wrote a book about India called Midnight's Children. It took the time when, at exactly midnight, there was the agreement on the constitution that India was free from the Commonwealth, from the British regime, and became a republic. I think it was on the 15th of August—the midnight child. That is what tonight is. It will be midnight; the child will be born. I will announce to you that it is born. We are waiting for that. Our dear Swami Dr. Śāntījī—many of you know her, and those who do not will know now—is going to say something. We welcome our dear Śāntījī. First of all, I wish you a happy new year. We just came from a fireplace. Viśva Gurujī told us to put all our negative things, our not-good emotions, our judgments, our suffering into this fire. This is a very effective method, and Swāmījī described this also in a meditation in the book Hidden Powers of the Humans. You do not need a real fire; you can imagine this fire. You sit beside the fire and put whatever is difficult for you—all your sorrows—into it, and the fire will immediately transform it. Before, Swāmījī asked me to speak something about Ālakapurījī. It was not the time then, but I was thinking, what should I tell you? What I will tell you now has something to do with time. I also want to tell you that these days, today and tomorrow, are very holy days—holy in the sense of saintly. We are even happier that Viśva Gurujī is with us in person and also via technology. In my life, I have had several spiritual experiences. My very first experience was on the 1st of January, a very long time ago, maybe forty years ago. It was in a Catholic church, and completely surprisingly, without any preparation, I received a voice message inside of me—a kind of prediction for my future life. I will not tell you what it was, but since that time, it was very strong, and I know that these days are very special. As Swāmījī said in the last satsaṅg, time is not time. In nature, everything is changing every second. There is no stop in nature. Also, in the body, there is no stop; everything is changing in every moment. Each second is not a second, because the moment you say it is a second, it is already gone. So there is nothing. There is just, behind all this, the Ātmā, the universal self, which is everlasting. I come back now to the Himālaya. It was maybe eight years ago when we found the cave of Śrī Ālakapurījī. I was staying there for several days and had a meditation program there. Actually, I was not very happy with my sādhanā. I was sitting for hours and hours, but it was not as I thought it should be. One afternoon, at the time of sunset—you must know that the gufā, the cave of Ālakapurījī, was open, so you could see the sun—the rays of the sun were coming inside. While I was there meditating, suddenly, with half-closed eyes, I saw a white silhouette. I could not see the face because the sun was behind, the rays of the sun. This soul asked me: "What is my purpose? Why am I here?" There was much light behind him and through him. I was completely surprised and said, "Well, I try to find the realization." He said very shortly, "Go tomorrow to Ālakāpurī." The cave of Ālakapurījī is at the feet of the high mountain Ālakāpurī. It is about, I think, 5,000 meters approximately, and it is very difficult with glaciers and rocks. He told me, "You go tomorrow there," and then he disappeared. Of course, the next day I went up. This is a very solitary area; there is nobody there, and you have to go quite steeply. The first part in the rocks was not so difficult, and I was always thinking, "What should I learn here? What will be?" But he told me, "Go up." So I tried to go up. Then on the right side, it was very steep and also rocky, but with grass—very difficult to walk. I tried my best to go up. I was maybe one kilometer going up, but then it was so difficult that I stopped. In this moment, I looked back. When I saw how steep it was, I became dizzy, and at the same time, the depth attracted me. I do not know if you have this experience—when you look, it is really attracting, even though you know it is dangerous, but it attracts you. So I said to myself, "Do not look down anymore." Then I looked up, but up, I did not see the top. I did not know where the way would go. This was also not good. But still I heard the word "go up," so I followed. I did not look down, and I did not look up. What I did was look only at my feet. I was just going step by step, one foot after the other, just looking at my feet. This gave me security because I had control over my feet, and I saw the ground. Like this, I could follow my path. But after a while, I decided this was now all too difficult, and I went slowly back. Only sometime later, I think not on the same day, I understood what Ālakapurījī wanted to tell me. See, when you look back in your past, in your past lives, in your past—whatever it is in the past—it will attract you. You will fall down; you will be hurt. It is very dangerous. When you look up, you do not see anything. You do not have any control over what will be in the future. So do not look too much into the future; this is also an illusion which is not in the present. He told me the only thing you have to be careful about is to live in the present moment. Fulfill your present moment with all your soul, with your intellect, with your thinking, everything. This was for me a very big lesson, and I am very thankful that I got this lesson from Ālakapurījī. Because to live in the present moment is your own moment, where you can really do something. If you want to make your karma better, you have to do it in the present moment. Leave the past; let it go, let it flow away like the water on the Gaṅgā which goes to the ocean. And do not look in the sky where the clouds are going and coming; you cannot touch it. So to live in the present is a gift. I thank you very much, and I wish you many beautiful gifts and wonderful moments in the next year. So, we are stuck here, but we will manage. Continuity in the whole universe is constantly movement. As Śāntījī said, just be aware of the presence. If you look down, you will become dizzy. If you try to go up, you will not find the destination. So take care of your steps, step by step, day by day. That is it. Thank you. If somebody else would like to speak, why not? Just open your heart and come. Hari Om. Praṇām Viśvagurujī. It was very beautiful to cooperate, to collaborate with Śāntījī on our short children’s program. Thank you for that too. I was very interested by the words concerning time. Of course, my main topic is the children—the midnight child. My question is: when the new child is coming, is not something ending at the same time? But in connection to what Śāntījī and Viśvagurujī were talking about, I should give up thoughts about the past. The only hope is that we will take it as something from the past that is creating the present. So, in the name of all of us, I would like to say thank you for the old year. It is said that only those moments count in your life: the moments of spiritual thoughts, the moments when you help somebody, and when somebody is so close to God, as we are. So let us take all our spiritual experiences into the present, because there is no greater riches than this. I will quote Viśvagurujī’s words: the parents are responsible for the newborn child. As the child is like clay in the hands of the parents, in the hands of the potter who is creating a new pot, it is up to the potter what the pot will look like. So we are, in a way, all the parents of this newborn child which is coming now. So let us take care of him with great love, and let us bring up the child not only for ourselves, but for all the world. In Viśvagurujī’s presence, I am sure that we can manage to create a world full of peace. And I ask for his blessing for this. Anybody from Sannyāsīs? Nobody? He was past, present, and future. Past, present, and future. Dear friends, sisters and brothers, there are very rare moments in this life, very few seconds, minutes, where we can be really happy. It means with our whole being completely satisfied, inside and outside. When we look at our whole life, as far as we can go back to our birth or nearly to our birth... Swāmījī says, "Tomorrow we do not know; we do not see. There is no tomorrow till now." What we experienced, which difficulties we had, how many disappointments, and how it is now—it is like a film; it goes quickly. The mind is the quickest speed, even quicker than light. There are very many moments only in the presence of Gurudev. All bhajans describe this. There is no pilgrim place in the whole universe where we can find this satisfaction, this peace, and this happiness. Even if we are sometimes angry or sad or disappointed—even with Gurudev—he knows how and what, and when and where. We know that when we come here and have Gurudev’s darśan, then we do not go empty-handed or hard. Something always happens. Sometimes pleasant and sometimes unpleasant, but it is not always what we want, but what is needed. Many, many of us do not understand and give up; they even jump out of the boat. When we see this and when we observe this, we are sorry about it, because we know there is nothing else. So, just let us be together. Thank you. Thank you, Umāpurījī. Let us be together as long as possible. There are so many good speakers sitting. Maybe our dear Gaṅgāpurī. Praṇām Swāmījī, dear brothers and sisters from all over the world. It is said in the scripture that there are 8.4 million different kinds of living forms. To get a human life, you have to go through all these 8.4 million forms. So it is a very big luck that we have a human form and that we met Gurudev in this life. It is said we have also lived many lives before without Gurudev. We have experienced life in many different ways; we had many different partners; we have many different relationships. But now, in this moment, it is really our big chance that we can progress on our spiritual path. It is also said it is really rare to have the darśan of Gurudev. Even the devas are looking for the darśana of Gurudev. So in this way, we should be really aware that it is our big chance to progress on our spiritual path. In this way, I wish you a very good new year, and be conscious of your spiritual path. Thank you. After this, all past is past; the future is not here. Care of the presence. Your future will be like a presence. And therefore, our destination, our goal, our aim—where we would like to come—but in the future we do not know the path. The past we have already crossed; we are standing here and would like to go somewhere, Mahāprabhujī said. God bless you. So, Gurudev Darśan Dhan Ho—fortunate are we that we can have Darśan of Gurudev. What we wish, what we ask, what we deserve, or not. How to achieve? Where to go? Destination. So, Guruvar, I shall start from your country: "O Gurudev, I would like to go with you to your world. Give up all other worldly attachments, and let me follow through this path of detachment, etc." You know the meaning of this bhajan. And so it is said, "I want to go there, who not?" Me too. So what did Gurudev say? Gurudev is giving instruction: take care, be aware. So what does Gurudev tell? This was the bhajan for the New Year: "O my mind, go slowly, slowly. Do not hurry. Think over. Use your vivekā, your intelligence. Think three times before you take action, not only once, and test with your heart. If you are dealing with humbleness and kindness, ask your intellect: Is this not selfishness? Is this not out of pride? Is this out of some ambition? Are you not harming others?" So this is the message for the new year. Sahasra kośa gagana kī upara, vahaṁ para hai Raghurāya. There is the Raghurāya, Bhagavān Rāma, God. So this whole vājan pañca-pañcāśan... Bhelī hokara mohana rāga sunā'ī, Raghunāyaka mantra rastā dega pañca-pañcāśan bhelī hokara. All our senses, all our elements—five karmendriyas, five jñānendriyas, vṛttis, etc.—all they come together. It is all that is in the body. The body is nature; the body is from this earth, and it is coming towards its nature. But what is within us, that is not from this earth. It is from that highest one. Our destination is there. But mohana rāga—mohana means attractive, such an attraction that we are hypnotized. They sing you such a beautiful song, so in that, you are completely addicted, and it will divert your path to other directions. The streets are narrow and dark, and the path is very slippery. If you fall down, you will fall into a very deep hole, like a ditch. Śāntī said when she looked back, her thighs were trembling. Why not? Yes, climbing is easier, but coming down is not easy. The easiest one to come down is distraction. So, to come to a higher level, we have to do hard work, but to fall down is very easy, and everything is destroyed. But those who can go carefully down... So we begin: we stand from the earth; we are rising high up, but do not lose the earth. Have your feet on the solid ground. So do not just try to be a butterfly; do not imitate the butterfly. So, the coming new year for us—we are expecting, but sometimes it is that expectation which leads to disappointment. It is our own decision how successful a year we will make. Therefore, Mahāprabhujī said, "Carefully, slowly. The path is very slippery, rocky, with thorns and bushes." To cross mighty rivers, to cross the wild water... You know what is the wild water? Youth. From the teenager they are till 30 years, 40 years, there is a wild water; then the wild horse is that is it. This is a poetry or a song, the experienced holy sense or some artist, what they write. It is completely opposite. Only they can write and understand. We do not understand that language, and if we will understand that language, we are already Jīvanmukta. So that language, nobody understands. Mahāprabhujī’s disciple Swami Śivānandajī said in one beautiful bhajan: "God bless you. Oh, my friend..." It means our thinking, our attention, our vision—how to get there. Śabda means the word. One word can be sweet like nectar, and one word can be such a beautiful mix: "You are the best friend," and your heart opens. And one word can make that friendship, that whole life is your best friend. Or one word can make you the enemy. One word can be like a most poisonous, and one word can make the war. So, śabda, the word—what kind of word will you speak and say? That will lead you. Just talking only: "I love you, God is love, everything is beautiful love, love, surrender to the love..." This is like water bubbles. Or this is that: in that fruit or in that thing, there is no oil in those seeds. This is surface; in the heart, it is different. So one word is very important. It is said, Rāma se baḍā Rāma kā nāma—God Rāma’s name is bigger, greater than his Rāma, the body. One word, God, or one word, devil. There is no title. That is enough. So those who like my words understand me. They are my caste—caste means my friend. So this is a bhajan from Śivānandajī: "With the words we can give, with the words we can take, with the words we can liberate, and with these words we can realize, come to Brahman." So in yoga or in Hindu philosophies, we believe the past, but we do not cry, and we do not work for the past. If you work on the past, you are going back. So do something for the future. But you do not know the future, so work for the future in the present. This is how we understand the new year. New year? Which new year? This new year, what we are celebrating, is based on Christianity. But Jewish people have another new year, and the Buddhists have another. Hindus have another new year. Islam also has another new year. Many different countries, different cultures. So every day is a new day. The morning, when you wake up, is a new year begun. Think, "I am the human." What does it mean for me to be a human? And what makes me human? What are the qualities which make me human? I have to survive the whole day, because today is today. Tomorrow we have never seen, because tomorrow, when we reach it, it is not anymore tomorrow; it is today. So presence is always presence. So let us think forward. Mahāprabhujī said in his golden preaching: "Past is past, present is here. The future is not here. Your future will be like the present." So, attention. You go on your path. Manva dhīra dhīra cala, we were singing. Cetan, aware. Develop your awareness. Awareness is more important than intellect. Awareness is controlling the intellect, and from the intellect comes cream. Cream is viveka. These are written in the philosophy of Vedānta. In the Bhagavad Gītā, it is written a lot. So the feelings, the nature of the human, need knowledge, teaching. Knowledge makes us perfect. But now, in this modern world, in this modern technology, in this new age, we turn the human brain in another direction. We develop more and more towards materialism. Spirituality is suffering, but it is not lost. The Mother Earth will never lose the seeds. Similarly, the truth, Ātmā, Paramātmā—this will be, it is, and it will win. So the new year is coming; we are very happy, and we should take care. Through our doing good karma in this year, we can overcome the past karmas from this past year. That will automatically go. So let us see how we will face the new year. That is it. So, Holy Gurujī said, "Wake up. Wake up, wake up, wake up. Prabhutsa, Prabhutsa, Prabhutsa. Why? In the trap of Moha, the spider will die. Bhai, tum jāgo re, terā avasara bītā jāyā. Nindā avijayā chāyā, nindā avijayā chāyā. Pyāre, janama janama duḥkha pāhe pāhe... Satguru Siddha, janama safala, pāsa meṁ pohaca, Kiyo makalī jūjā, kiyo umarī jūjā, janama samo, nahīṁ pā, bhai, pyāre bāra bāra, nahīṁ pā, bhai, Śrī Madhīpa Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān." O brothers, wake up, wake up. You are sleeping in the sleep of ignorance. Do not sleep unconsciously. Otherwise, you will die like a spider creating a nest, and one day that spider gets stuck in it and cannot come out. So this attachment, worldly attachment—we are knitting the nest of attachment. There are many different kinds of attachment: for money, for a house, for many, many things. But Holy Gurujī said, Mahāprabhujī has awakened the sleeping swans, and so it is a beautiful bhajan. So my dear, what is in our life is very important; it is a blessing. And everyone has in their hearts to give the blessing. It does not matter if you are young or old, older or younger, junior or senior—in everyone there is a blessing. Blessings have many different forms. So, in the name of our Ālakapurījī Siddha Pīṭha Paramparā—Ālakapurījī, Devapurījī, Mahāprabhujī, Gurujī—I bless you. What kind of blessing? Yes, I wish you a very happy, very healthy, harmonious, peaceful, and prosperous New Year. And when you wish the same words, or you say, "I wish you a happy New Year," it is already a blessing. Now, your blessing should guide and accompany you until the next new year. But whether you can preserve this or not, I gave it to you. Now, to take care is your call. So, happy birthday and new year. Now, all dear brothers and sisters around the world—some have already worshipped and congratulated the New Year; some, now, it will be after one and a half hour in America, South America, different time. So this is now international date changing, and we accept this. All the best. We will have an interval, then after we will have prayer, and while praying, we will end it in the new year. So we pray for forgiveness for what we did, maybe something wrong in this year, and we enter the new year while praying. So there is a nice bhajan our dear Bhakti Devī will sing. Come to the harmonium or whatever, ḍholaks and everything. Who is playing this bhajan? You all know: "Oh Lord, I gave my life in your hands. If it will be successful or not, it is your decision." This bhajan. Ten o’clock. Eleven. Okay. Time to time, we can open the window and close the window, okay? In the New Year, we must come into the fresh air, not exhausted from last year. Thank you. Now you have half an hour—to go in fresh air, to visit some rooms. Exactly in half an hour. It means now 11:08, so about 11:30 we will begin the prayer. All the brothers and sisters around the world, wish you all the best. Happy New Year, and see you in the webcast next year. Adiós.