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Namaḥ kartaḥ Prabhudevaḥ kartaḥ Mahāprabhudevaḥ kartaḥ hi kevalam. Oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ... Good evening, dear sisters and brothers, all yoga practitioners and teachers. I offer my respects to all the different ashrams, yoga centers, and practitioners. My prayer to God is for the health, happiness, and divine thoughts of everyone, not only those who practice yoga but all people. For all of us who attend conferences, give lectures, and have many disciples, I hope we give everything from our heart—our love, our respect, and our commitment to oneness for all. We must move beyond the thought of "I am" and "mine." It is said that first one should give. But give what? Not money, prosperity, or position, but one essential thing: food to the hungry. This means not only hungry humans but all creatures. I always say: love them, protect them, feed them, do not kill them. In India, many people give a great deal of food to the hungry, both people and animals. We have the Punjabi religion, which is part of the Hindu tradition. In their temples, called Gurudwārās or Guru Āśramas, anyone who comes is given food equally. No one is refused. They also feed animals and birds. Even if there is a conflict, they will say, "Please, you eat first." This means you are giving life to the jīvās (living beings). In this way, all of us—yoga practitioners, those of other techniques, doctors, professors—should unite. We see many humans who respect and give generously to animals and people. It is said, "How is it in your heart?" If your heart is truly living, you know it needs nourishment. So, as I said: respect them, love them, protect them, give to them, but do not kill them. If you cannot do this, know that the Guru will give you everything. In the Guru Granth Sāhib, the holy book of the Punjabis, it is written on the last page that this is not merely a book; it is the Gurudev itself. It says: "Guru Granth Ko Janiye"—know the Guru Granth as the Guru. They never place this holy book on the floor. When traveling by aeroplane with the Guru Granth Sāhib, they hold it high, close to the heart. Wherever they go, they hold morning and evening prayers. These are our great Sikh people—'Sikh' is a good name, meaning disciple. If you go to a Guru's āśram, you will be respected and welcomed. At that time, they will offer food, and the holy book is always held high. When opening the Guru Granth, they hold a cloth over their mouth. This is so that when speaking or reading, nothing from our mouth—not even spittle—touches the sacred text, as that would be disrespectful to the Gurudeva. They read while covering their mouth. When one speaks of the Guru, Gurudev, or a Sādhu, they are truly respected. When I look at the world, I see that sometimes on aeroplanes, families in distress show respect. The principle is: first, offering food to someone fills the stomach, which is life. Then our heart, and within our heart, there is a vast space. That is why they have great respect for the guru. They also have certain principles: they always wear a turban, carry a knife (often in the turban or on their person), wear a metal bracelet (kara), and a specific type of trousers. You will see they do not smoke. They have four main principles and do not cut their hair, keeping their beard and moustache. Some modern individuals may cut their hair or not wear a turban, but for all traditional ceremonies and marriages, they adhere to the ways of their first, holy Guru. They receive everything from the Gurudevās. Many people, when they receive their monthly wages, go to the Gurudwārā (the ashram of the Gurudev) and donate money there. In India, there is the beautiful Golden Temple of the Gurudwārā, surrounded by water. People must first remove their shoes and socks. Devotees will clean and wash them, placing them neatly aside. Then one walks through water for a distance of one or two meters. In cold weather, warm water is provided; in hot weather, cool water. After crossing, bhaktas stand on the other side with towels to dry one's feet and face. Everyone must cover their head with a turban or cloth—it does not matter if one is a president, prime minister, or police officer. No one can enter the Guru's place without a respectful head covering. If you do not have one, they will provide it. Inside, there is the holy book, the Guru's Granth. They bow their head to it. One can sit for a while where mantras and bhajans are continuously recited. Everyone sits on the floor, though now, for the elderly or those with knee or back problems, seating is sometimes arranged at the back. Everyone receives prasāda, such as halvā, not just a spoonful but a handful. They say, "Don’t worry, take it with you, eat, but do not let a single grain of this Gurudeva's prasāda fall to the ground." Many high-status people—doctors, professors, Americans, anyone—visit. Punjabi people, whether highly educated, hardworking, or very rich, all clean and serve in the Gurudwārā. Each year, they take turns to serve. Every day, thousands of people visit. You can sometimes see the Golden Temple from an aeroplane. Similarly, around the world, Punjabi bhaktas have established Gurudwārās. In Europe, some may not want this or that religion, but a Punjabi will say, "Yes, I have my Guru." So they create even a small place as a Gurudwārā. Likewise, there are many other organizers and religious figures with their own gurus or śaktis. No one should die for lack of food. There was an old Christian woman in Kolkata who helped poor people with nothing, claiming people were dying of hunger. While her purpose was to convert everyone to Christianity, I know that in many countries, Christian organizations also have very nice places. In Vienna, and I think in every country, there are days when poor people can come and eat free, good food. I was in a big city in Australia and was invited to a Christian ashram for food. I asked if there was meat, and they said no, there was bread, butter, vegetables, and rice. I went, and they respected and welcomed me greatly. There was abundant food, with sisters (nurses) serving. So in the world, there are spiritual people. Religions are of two kinds: one kind seeks only to pull people towards itself. The other says it does not matter if you are religious or non-religious, from any country or background—only that God will feed you. We should not say, "First come to our religion, and then you will become a Christian, or a Hindu, or this." That should not happen. Therefore, it is said: be aware and know that everywhere, we humans are humans. All should feed us, love us, welcome us, and not cast us out. That is humanity. So, for humanity, it is said: "Chet chet yab jīvya jñānī avsar jāve re, guru sam jāve re." (Be conscious, O wise jīva, the opportunity passes, the Guru passes.) As I told you last week: "Dhan dalat yor bhel khajana, sab hi re jave re." (Wealth, army, treasure—all will remain here.) All will remain here, and our ātmā will go. All properties, money, jewellery, clothes, and your body will remain here, and the jīva departs. At the end of life, only the Jīva goes. Akelā—alone, alone, alone. Who will tell you where to go? Now we cannot touch the earth. This earth, everything, is nothing. For example, if I am sitting in a glass box, you cannot hear me and I cannot hear you. I am safe from others, but only in the body. That Jīvātmā will go through the glass. The glass will not break; a rock will not break. The Jīva passes through because it has no substance—neither stone, nor water, nor earth, nothing. This we should know. What can we protect? We lock our doors. But when the time comes, the soul will go; the body remains. You will go alone, my dear. Your mother will be there, your father will be there, but you will say, "My child, I am gone," or "Mother, father, gone." No one can go with you. You will go alone. The Gurudev tells you: you will be alone at that time. Is our time gone? However close we are now, however hand in hand we walk, holding fingers tightly, the jīvā will depart, and you will fall. Nothing remains the same. No one is equal today. Mother, father, friends, all family—they will try to hold you with attachment, but nothing will remain. Then, he is not your mother and not your father. The soul, the jīva, goes, and another jīva comes. "Hey, my friend, where is your mother?" He says, "There is neither mother, nor father, nor anything—only me." Who are you? That is only "I am." I am only one. Yama, who brings death, will pull out your soul. You may say "No," but he will compel us. Everything is under the will of Yamarāja; he will be charting our course. They are also not physical; it is energy fighting against energy. Like in a football field: there are 22 people, but only one football. They kick it here and there, wanting to reach the goal (Brahmaloka). The ball comes very close, just a little distance away, and one kicks it in such a way that it goes there. So: "Yam kī marpale sirāyu, par kon chuḍāve re." (In the grip of Yama's noose, who can liberate?) "Satguru saran gaya bina murak." (Without taking refuge in the Satguru, one is foolish.) "Satguru saran gaya bina..." as our Punjabi bhaktas say. Satguru śaraṇa, the Guru's door (dvārā). Śaraṇa: when you take refuge, anything can happen. One day, even if someone comes alive, people killing with guns... if you run to the Gurudwārā, no one will let you die there. So, Satguru... a person... Going to the Guru Dvāra also means going to the Gurudev. Without that, who can bring us to mokṣa (liberation)? "Guru kripa bina jaya charasi gota khavere." (Without the Guru's grace, you will fall into the cycle of 8.4 million [life-forms].) Guru kripa bina—without the Gurudeva's grace—charasi gota khavere charasi. You will fall into the charasi (84 lakh, or 8.4 million) species. There are so many creatures. After death, you will come back to this world. Tomorrow will... oh, my dear, the time is gone, and this time is in your hands. But this time will slip away. Afterwards, you will be very sad. Now you know that you are a good child. You have all the toys you want. Then we grow up. We put the toys aside and get living toys: a girl for a boy, or a boy for a girl. Yes, the old toys are gone. In the beginning, the child only wants milk. Then modern toys, then living toys. Then the husband wants to have children again. Everything, and no one will be yours; they will die. Then, if we were in this worldly life and did not perform bhakti (devotion), did not meditate, we were on the other side. So you come back again; it is a cycle. We fell into one point, like a ring. The ring, we don't know where it began. It is melted into this saṃsāra (worldly existence), and everything goes round and round, suffering. This is also in the Guru Granth; you should read it, and go to the Gurudwārā. Or when you go to the church, there is also holy water. We bow down. We have Āratī as well. All is the same. So when we go to the church, we should go in surrender. I surrender my whole being. If someone from another religion comes, they might say, "Why is he here? Who are you? Are you Christian?" Why? There is no "Christian"; there is only Jesus. Only mothers. They say, "Please come, that’s it. Don’t ask me who is who." Therefore, it is a great thing. Very soon we will meet again tomorrow. All my dears, I hope I have not done anything wrong to you. If I have made any mistake, please forgive me. We are all part of the One, so let us merge into that merger. Drop by drop becomes the whole ocean again. Mahāprabhujī karta hi kevalam. Oṃ śānti śānti... Alakpurījī Mahādev kī je, Devadhī Dev Deveśwar Mahādeva kī je, Satguru Swāmī Madhavānjī Bhagavān kī, Haradī Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī kī je, Satya Sanātana Dharma kī je. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ... Viśva Guru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Maheśvarānandajī Gurudeva Kī Jai.