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To understand sādhana—what it is, where it is rooted, its benefits, and how to correctly or incorrectly understand it—there is a story. Two friends brought an elephant to sell. They tied it to a big tree in a beautiful park outside a village. People came to see this rare animal, and some came to buy it. But buying an elephant is easy; taking care of it is difficult. An elephant has fine feelings and a very good memory. If you throw a stone at it and escape, it will remember you even after 80 years. In Africa, near Johannesburg, there is a large wild safari with a retreat. The area is sealed with strong electronic cables of 5000 volts; anyone who touches them can immediately have vibhūti. Even the animals sense this vibration. There is a man-made lake where wild animals come to drink in the afternoon and morning. Around four o'clock, elephants come to bathe. Once, a mighty elephant was standing there. I came from my cottage, going to the deck to sit and observe, holding a big apple. I thought to give it to the elephant from afar, about seven meters away. I threw the apple, and it landed half a meter from him. He placed his trunk on the earth and stood there until half an hour after sunset. People asked if someone had thrown something. I said, "Yes, I threw an apple." They said, "Sir, never make this mistake. We must put a guard at your cottage tonight, and tomorrow we cannot take you on the safari." How is the elephant so sensitive? It can be very angry or very friendly. The day before, we saw eight or nine elephants; some were sitting, some standing. A large male elephant was coming toward our jeep, only eight meters away. He stopped, and we stopped too. There were about seven of us in the jeep. I said, "We have seen enough, let's go." The driver said, "No, we cannot move. Until he moves, we will not move." I said, "Today is the last day." With his trunk, he could catch us. There you can understand what the jīva is. We say, "Jīva sabko pyārā hai"—life is dear to everyone. Though I was singing mentally, my thighs were shaking. There is also something one said: "Ahaṁ Voham, Voham Śivo'ham, Śivo'ham... Vahiyātmāsā, Simratmāsā, Chidānandame, Śivo'ham, Śivo'ham,... Śivo'ham." A beautiful song, a beautiful version. This is no weapon that can kill, and it cannot take away. Fire cannot burn. I am immortal. And the elephant said, "Okay, so me." We stood there for 15 minutes. I asked the driver, "Please, can't you put your gear in reverse and slowly roll back?" He said, "No, he has his power and his ego, the elephant. We must remain. If we go back, his power will grow. If we stay, he will lose his power." But I thought, if he comes, what will he do? Only eight meters. I said, "Bhagavān Gaṇeśa Mahārāja, Oṁ Śrī Gaṇeśa Bhagavān, I will never come here in front of you." After 10-15 minutes, he took three steps back and went away. I said, "Mahāprabhujī, today was the best blessing you have ever given in my life." And not only me, but all who were sitting there. Life is dear to all. Therefore, it is said, "Ahiṃsā paramodharmaḥ"—non-violence is the highest principle. If you kill any creature, it is a sin. When an accident happens, or a terrorist kills somebody, or somebody kills a terrorist, you say, "Oh God, what happened? Terrible things. They killed innocent people," etc. But who will cry for these other creatures? Anyway, three blind persons used to come. They touched the elephant and went home. The owner asked, "Did you like something?" They said, "Yes, but there's a big mistake," and they left with the elephant. On the second day, they came again. One touched the leg, another the trunk, and the third the tail. They went back, and when asked, they said, "Yes, but there's a big mistake." They left again. On the third day, they came and checked the elephant's stomach and back. They said, "Oh, God. What is wrong? A big wrong, a great mistake." The person who wanted to sell the elephant gave them $500 each on the first day, saying, "Please don't tell anyone the mistake." On the second day, he gave them $1,000,000. On the third day, he gave them two thousand dollars, pleading, "Please don't tell anyone who will come." They went away. After 100 meters, he ran after them and said, "Stop, please, stop, sir, stop. Can you tell us what mistakes are there?" They said, "Big mistake. Where are the legs? This is only a water hose. This is a big rope. This is a big drum. Where's the elephant?" He said, "Yes, you are right. But we can tell you what it is." They replied, "Oh yes, please tell us. We will be very happy if you give our money back. Then we can tell you the secret of the elephant." He gave all the money back. They said, "Please tell, where is the front part of the elephant, blind people?" They answered, "The front part of the elephant is there where he is walking, in the direction he is walking. Come, we will show you. Hold the stomach." They walked, holding the trunk, and said, "Oh, now we know it is an elephant. It also has a mouth, and it can walk that side." Why did I tell you this story? Sādhana, anuṣṭhāna, mantras, yajñas, ceremonies, upāsanā, etc., are the treasure of the ṛṣis who gave these signs to understand. You should know which ceremonies are for which purpose, who should do them, and who should not. To whom you can make a tilak, and to whom you should not. If there is a master, he can give tilak to everyone. A paṇḍit, if very wise and learned, may give you tilak. But to whom? For men, everyone can do it. But for a woman, only her husband or other ladies can do it. If a male is going to make a tilak for a woman, it is not accepted, because only her husband or her guru can do it. That is the principle. Generally, the paṇḍit will offer the pūjā thālī like this. An intelligent woman will take the color herself with her ring finger. This finger you should not use. In India, this finger indicates, "I want to go to the toilet." But a woman cannot say, "I want to go," like this. Yes, because a woman doesn't have this. People in India were laughing. You will laugh, "What? Swāmījī is telling such a thing?" But someone should educate you. So either the woman will say, "I am going somewhere," or use the middle finger and index finger to indicate, "I want to go." This is for a woman, and this is for a man. Understand me or not? There are some Indians sitting; I hope they will not say, "Swāmījī is making this up," but it is good that they know. For the ring finger, if a man, he can do with the ring finger till here, and then with the thumb, they look like this. So for a male, you will do first a dot here and then so. But for women, only bindi. Don't do for women also like this. If there is a paṇḍit or some person who is very angry, he can give you a slap on your head because, like this, only her husband does. When they marry, at that time, he will take the cinder and put it here on her forehead. Now, the woman who is married will put a red tilak here herself every day. What does it mean? In Europe and Western countries, you ask someone, "Are you married?" You should not ask. If you ask, a good one will just ignore, and an angry one will give you a slip. "Why do you want to ask me if I'm married? Do you want to marry me?" In India, you can ask. People say yes or no, why not? And also, in India, they sometimes ask, "Are you married or not?" But in Europe and Western countries, you should never say to anyone, girls or boys, "Are you married?" When you are good friends, okay, but these two things are not respectful. So when you see the tilak here on the forehead near the hair, that means automatically you should know she is a married person. She has her husband. Similarly, there are certain things you can do only for men, and not for women; it's not allowed. I heard, now you know, that we have saṃskāras in Hindu Dharma, in Hindu religion, and in Sanātan Dharma it's called 16 saṃskāras. When you do the 16 saṃskāras, you become a pūrṇa human; otherwise, you are just like wild deer, animals. Saṃskāras are not hocus-pocus; they are performed with mantras given by great saints over ages. The paṇḍits do their best to read and perform them, but they did not create them; great ṛṣis created them. When a child becomes a teenager, the boy undergoes the Upanayana Saṃskāra. This is the three holy threads worn around the neck: Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumṇā. They receive particular instructions on what a man should do and should not do. Don't forget, always carry it around your neck. I know of two saints. Long ago, some paṇḍits, Brahmins, were sitting, and one came from another caste. But he was also a holy saint. They didn't accept him to sit beside them in ceremonies. He asked, "Why not? Because you do not have this holy thread." He said, "I have. I have a real one. You do not." He took his soul away, and from his body he took the three golden threads. All Brahmins adored him. This happened in Gujarat. This represents Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. The guṇas have to be purified. But this is not for women, not for girls. For girls, there is another ceremony which is much better than for boys. We said that ṛṣis tell that human beings need such saṃskāras so they will not make a mistake to go again against nature or against their human principle. It is a principle that when you eat, before eating, you should wash your hands and your mouth, and if possible, wash your feet. Now, who is washing their feet? Some don't even take their shoes off, and if they put socks and shoes outside, the dining room will smell... So better that they don't take them off. Otherwise, in all Asian traditions—China, Taiwan, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, everywhere, in Fiji—you cannot take your shoes inside the house. They put shoes outside, wash their feet, and when a guest comes, the host washes the guest's feet and then performs pūjā. It means respect and celebration: as a human, I adore you as a God. The guest is a God, and the human is as a... guest. Go to Bangkok. Any officers, hospitals, schools, or shops, they all greet you like this, not with a handshake. In Bangkok airport, you know its name? Suvarṇa Bhūmi. In Sanskrit, suvarṇa is gold, and bhūmi is the earth. So they call it the golden earth. Then they worship and greet with Rāma, God Rāma. I think in a very ancient religion in Europe, the Celts, and the Celtics, they were coming from England or from where? They were in Ireland and so on, all over Europe. After the Celtics came the Romans, and after the Romans came the Catholics. Now they are Roman Catholics. The Christianities, but everyone changed the ceremonies and traditions of human life. So the saṃskāra has a very positive effect on the body, mind, spirituality, and on your soul. Otherwise, those who don't know how to perform a ceremony, and for whom you make a ceremony for a man, and you are also doing the same for a lady, that's not possible. As a soul, they are one, but as a body, it is a different principle. It is said, if one is blind and the other can hold your hand and take you... So it is said, anyone who holds your hand is blind; one is your wife. The blind one doesn't know who is pushing your hand and taking you somewhere. So the blind shows the blind the path. You see, religion and spirituality are different. Religion is a fundament, and spirituality is beyond, above. Therefore, mantras have to be chanted properly. Now, how should I know when I don't know Sanskrit? And how should you know this, you don't know at all? Now, Panditjī performs and you say svāhā, and then you are increasing here and then here and then svāhā. This has to be done the proper way. The mudras are very important, so that you take here and then with the thumb, svāhā. And if you do the svāhā like this, that is a black magic ceremony, so don't do like this. But this ceremony, I don't want to perform for you at all, and I also don't know. Otherwise, you will do it for others. So there are positive and negative. But if you don't know, and you do like this, then you are responsible, and you will go down, and you will follow a blind behind the blind, from one sheep to another sheep. There were ācāryas here, paṇḍits, how many? For ten hours, twelve hours, he is chanting and performing pūjā for you. I tell him to make it shorter. He said, "No, I will do exactly and fine," and between nice bhajans, nice mantras, nice prayers. How do you like our ācāryas? Thank you. One can feel, and he is so humble. He is not here, so I think tomorrow we are saying goodbye to him. So what would we give him, some present or something? Decide, please. So what I want to say about sādhana: if you don't do the proper sādhana, then you are going in the wrong direction, and don't change your upāsanā. Upāsanā, if you begin to perform a ceremony to Divine Mother Kālī or any Durgā or any, because the pūjā, ceremony of the Divine Mother, Śakti, is not easy, and very easy. But she likes purity. She likes pure purity of the body, purity of the thoughts, pure feelings. You don't see her as a woman; Śakti is divine. The divine of the divine. Even Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva worship Śakti. But if you make one mistake, she can destroy. That's it. So, there must be very correct mantras, very correct diet; otherwise, she can destroy. Therefore, there are different pūjās, Śakti pūjā, and we should perform Śakti pūjā, but only if you know. Otherwise, it is enough to fold your hands and say, "Divine Mother, bless me." That's all. And also, there are different objects of the devas that we worship. And you don't know all. When Pandājī tells you, "Offer now these flowers to your ancestors," this you are offering to the Kuldevatā. You may not know what Kuldevatā is. Your house god is the central power protecting your property, your house, many good things. So, if you enter into sādhana, then you should do it properly. And don't just be inspired by a little lecture and say, "I give you this, and I give you this." Don't do this. If you are not doing it, you will not do it; otherwise, you are lost. Then you will come half-brained to me and say, "Swāmījī, what can I do? I lost my half brain." And I said, "Okay, you will lose the second one also." So nowadays, unfortunately, many people are coming from many different countries to different countries and manipulating. You have religion. You are here. You have European traditions. Where is it necessary to change religion? I don't understand, how do you change? It's not a coffee cup that I give you my cup and you give me yours. All is one. So do not go and understand, misunderstand, and perform some kind of pūjā, and you don't even know what tilak you are doing for which. To which paramparā do you belong? When I go with one tilak like this, my Akhāṛā people will come, and they will clean here, and they will clean here. And you will go to Śiva or a Paṇḍit. The Paṇḍit will do like this, or they will do like this, so they are different, but you should know why. This is the three Puṇḍa: this is three—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśa—and there is a red point, and that is Śakti, the third eye. So there are many things. Should I continue or finish? It is very important. Because many of you, anyone comes and makes you stupid, you can listen, you can look, but don't follow into darkness. Now is the time. Now is the time that people, especially in Europe, are very innocent. They think they have had enough of their religion, or they think their religion is not good. Why do you think your religion is not good? It's very, very good. Everything is very good, but you know, when you eat something, you have one vegetable, then you have chutney, then you have some sweet. Sometimes you want to go this and that. But the main food is our chapatis or something. So you have everything. You have main food. So practice your yoga in daily life. Do your sādhanās. Meditate, self-inquiry meditation of yoga and real life, and don't mistake or wander here and there. Now is the time, because I heard today from someone expressing sadness about how people are misguided. So when anything, any question or thing happens or comes, first ask me. If there is something good, I will say yes. If it's not good, then I will not answer. So I will not give an answer. The no answer is the answer. Which answer do you want? That's it. So let us practice. Let us preserve your European culture and traditions. And of course, don't eat meat, eggs, this, that. And do your mantra. You know, also if you don't like Vedic mantra, you can have a Christian mantra, because that's also Vedic. You think Christian? There are no Christians, there are no Hindus; it is Sanātan. So you can have a mantra: "Bless me, oh merciful Mother Maria." That's all. And we are doing with this. I wish you today a very good lunch.